Is George Lucas Done?

There's a very interesting article at the New York Times today about George Lucas. Read it and then come back. His newly-produced film, RED TAILS, about the Tuskeegee Airmen, opens this Friday across the country, and it's a project that's been close to his heart for many years now. I haven't seen RED TAILS yet, and I haven't heard much about it one way or the other with other critics, but I think it's a terrific story in its own right and worth a big screen adaptation, especially with today's modern technology. I don't see anything wrong with injecting a subject like that with a little popcorn entertainment; some people would never see it otherwise, and it's an important part of our history. Plus, the dogfights really do look killer.

But what's more interesting is that Lucas has announced that he's done with filmmaking - at least blockbuster filmmaking - from this point on. Now, this isn't new; we heard this from him as far back as 1983 after RETURN OF THE JEDI. But I'm thinking he's serious this time, at least in his mind; word has it he was genuinely hurt with fan reaction from the prequels, - “Why would I make any more, when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?” - and apparently he had a difficult time shopping RED TAILS around to the studios and was only able to get it made by footing much of the bill himself. So he's probably a little bit jaded about the entire process at this point. There's still various pans on the fire, of course - the STAR WARS TV show; a possible fifth entry into the Indiana Jones franchise - but for the most part, from the mouth of the man himself, “I’m retiring. I’m moving away from the business, from the company, from all this kind of stuff.”

RED TAILS will be his last hurrah in big-budget filmmaking, at least filmmaking on that kind of scale. After this, the kinds of films he wants to make will be supposedly experimental works, along the lines of THX-1138. But I have a feeling that's not exactly true. I think George Lucas will be back in some form. I don't think he can stay away from trying to make something massively entertaining again, along the lines of STAR WARS and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. After all, even Akira Kurosawa balanced his serious films with entertainments, at least in that middle stretch of his career that we all know and love. Frankly, I think we'll have George Lucas to kick around for a while longer.

Why doesn't he just take people's advice and get help from writers etc. instead of insisting that Indiana Jones meets some space aliens and other stupid shit?
What was he, the director, producer, writer, art director, fucking prop man, did he design the sets and I bet he was in the make-up room too fucking putting make-up on Portman.

has changed quite a bit for old George. Instead of "directing" he plops his ass in front of some monitors and imagines goofy cartoons floating across the green screen. A far cry from sweating in the deserts of Tunisia.

if only this were true it would be somewhat promising. Sorry Lucas at this point you're going to have to prove yourself as a competent filmmaker again starting completely from the bottom. Your career for the past 20 years has made Howard the Duck look like a masterpiece

Before seeing this.
It's a good article. It's sort of sad Lucas took some of the reaction to the prequels to heart. It seems as though his heart is at least in the right
place.
ROTS, while not without its faults, is pretty damn good.

There are myriad problems with the prequels but the chief problem was Lucas' ego. Had he executive produced, outlined the stories, but handed off the scripting and direction duties to other people (cough Brad Bird cough) I think he would have had a home run on his hands. But he had to control every aspect of the movies himself and didn't surround himself with anyone capable of telling him no. The other issue was that he failed to realize that his core fans grew up. We didn't want offensive racial stereotypes, fart jokes and wooden acting. We're older now. More sophisticated. Lucas created something great (just look at the cinematics for The Old Republic MMO) but he's utterly incapable of recognizing what he's good at and what he's not good at. A shame, because I'd love three more Star Wars movies done right.

and let other people write the scripts and direct the movies. Let other people write the dialogue, let other people take out all the boring garbage you want to inject in there. Let other people decide that entire movie based on intergalactic trade laws is super boring.

I can't say that I really blame him for walking away. I'm not saying he's always got it right (he hasn't) but some of the shit that gets thrown his way is just ludicrous.
I mean, it's not like he's the Evil Emperor or something!

. . . won't release the original trilogy in a form that's not painful to watch? If he truly took fan reaction to heart, he would do this. Since he hasn't, it's hard to take anything he says about it seriously.

I can see the gripes about the first two prequels not being Star Wars movies. Sith, top to bottom, is a freakin' Star Wars movie. Also it has the most McDirmid screentime in any of the movies. Getting to swing for the fences like he hasn't done since 83 in Jedi. But I do love Lucas as a visual stylist more than anything, and I hope he gets back to - SOMEDAY - make some sort of smaller movie. Of course, knowing him, he'll load it up with FX and digital stuff anyway, which is cool because he's, like, a pioneer in that field.

Lucas legitimately had all that negative fan reaction coming not only with the prequels, but in how he messed up the revitalization of the original trilogy. The whole "Han steps on Jabba" scene would have been better off left in a deleted scenes reel, the musical changes to Jedi should have never been made, and Greedo shooting first was a plot and character change so colossally stupid that he should have been slapped with ferrets by his entire production staff until he changed it back. This isn't even getting into Jar-Jar, crapping all over continuity in Revenge of the Sith, the horrible '50s diner scene in Attack of the Clones that took everyone out of the movie, Hayden Christensen, the way stormtroopers were retconned into lousy clones, or....
Well, you get the point. (Okay, one more: Shia La friggin' Beouf.) Thing is, Lucas has always been at his best when he's had wise people or at least budget constraints to rein him in. He'd be an awesome filmmaker if he had an entourage that followed him around just to say "No George, that's a stupid idea." If they even stopped only half his bad ideas, and no more than half his good ones, he'd be great again.

...and then come back and prove us wrong. You and Steven pretty much raised a generation, a generation that still loves you. But we're hurting and only YOU can fix it.
Oh and there's no such thing as a 'prequel hater', it's called taste.

I knew someone on the production design team for the prequels and they guy is just stubborn, wouldn't listen. It's that kind of arrogance when leading projects that ends up running you aground. If you surround yourself with talent, you have to respect their talent and listen to their advice. He has to pick two directions: do whatever he wants and accept it as his vision, taking all the criticism that will come with that; or he can gear his work to the audience and consider them, in that way pleasing more people.
For some reason he thinks that he can please himself and make everyone else happy at the same time. It's nearly impossible to do both.

...so many reviews have pointed out, objectively, mistakes he made in the prequels:
Stilted dialogue and simply dull characterization.
I simply never connected with any of the characters....well, Obi-Wan *sort of* but only because he was an archetypal "jedi".
To be honest, I did become engaged with Anakin in the third movie...
...but that's just not enough. The third movie had "tolerable" characterization....but I simply could not get behind the characters from the first and second prequels.
Some of the special effects and fights were interestingly directed and such, but at a core level....I didn't find myself walking around quoting things the characters said.
I mean I don't want to make George feel bad about himself, but young Jake Lloyd's acting performance was infamously terrible....he's the kid you PICKED? How were the ones you rejected?
This is a multi-million dollar franchise and he'd already waited some 15 odd years to get started on the prequels...time wasn't a factor. They could have waited to get it right.
Fundamentally, I keep feeling like these prequels are going to be REMADE within the next 50 years. Not drastically changed, many of the core elements would stay intact, its just that it felt like George was going through the motions.
****Check out those reviews that use behind-the-scenes clips from The Phantom Menace, of the FIRST time that Lucas and his team watched the rough-cut of the film.
Granted, it was a rough cut. But as the reviews point out, you can see this non-verbal look of concern growing on everyone in the room's face. Even George is trying to force himself to crack jokes about minor things happening on screen, as if to diffuse the growing tension in the room, as they realize how terrible this dialogue and characterization actually is on screen.
The basic sweep of the plot, I understand, and it works. But this *blatantly wasn't* a finely honed script.
And to be honest....the visuals will be surpassed within some years. Even the digital effects in episode 1 already look dated.
The practical effects from the original trilogy dated better, because they were focused more on "inspiring the imagination" -- CGI should only support that, not be a crutch for it.
I mean, the comparison is frequently drawn to the Lord of the Rings movies which were coming out at more or less the same time (well, around the second prequel, before the third).
Look at how focused Jackson was on the characters and dialogue, not even using lines from the books. Those characters stayed with you and you cared about them.
TO THIS DAY, Amidala/Padme just feels like a retroactive Princess Leia clone. Anakin suffers from so much narrative-focus that he only really acts like "a person" in the third movie. A *core romance* of the entire saga, in episode 2, was instead some of the most laughably poorly executed stuff I've ever seen. Was Aragorn and Arwen great? No, but it was off-screen in the books. But it was okay in the movie; they focused on their silent longing, in a less-is-more approach, instead of slathering on the cheesy dialogue.
Fightin' Yoda also felt like "look at us, its CGI!"
The weird part is that so many minor characters in the original trilogy actually felt like "people" and have had their backstories rounded out in the EU.
In contrast....I simply have no driving need to know who even the named secondary characters were in the prequel trilogy. Like...Kenobia's four-armed friend from the diner; why would I care?
The weirdest part was that you finish the whole movie and realize that few characters really got much attention at all, it was brimming with so much going on that you couldn't really focus on one thing.
I can understand if Lucas feels bad, and we're not getting anything out of being mean to him but...
....do you honestly think the prequel movies, particularly the first two, were masterpieces? Were they equal to great works George has done in the past? They simply didn't feel like that much effort went into the plot.
It felt like they wasted hours and hours focusing on getting Jar Jar's blink ratio to work well in CGI fine little details that didn't actually matter.
In contrast, the LOTR trilogy inserted lots of tiny details....which actually informed us about the character. Just little things about their costuming which gave an understated "Feel" to each of them, or writing on the walls in Moria; it felt more realistic.
Officially, I think the BEST approach to the Prequel-era so far....has been Gendy Tartakovsky's two hour "Clone Wars" micro-series which bridged the gap between the second and third movies. It deservedly won an Emmy, and in some ways established better characterization with LESS time than Lucas' other efforts.
But I can't just sit here and defend someone going through the motions, on what was supposed to be the next cultural touchstone of our generation.

Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars, I love Empire, I love Raiders, they are brillant movies that defined my generation, but what good movie has Lucas directed/produced since?
I compare Lucas to some great band from the 60's/70's, in that they put out some great music in that time period, and all their new stuff is just crap and fans just enjoy their greatest hits.
The whole movie of Empire and the way the story plays out took total balls on Lucas's part, and once he succeeded and created Lucasfilm, he never took that chance again. That movie doesn't have a happy ending, the good guys get their asses kicked for 2 hours, the tone of the movie is nothing like the original, and there is alittle shocker told from father to son to knock you right in the gut.
Lucas has done nothing with any balls since, as Jedi, the PT and the other movies he produced were all safe endeavors to keep the Lucasfilm gravy train running.

. . . movies and letting others direct and write them -- like me! Call me, George. You know I love you (but I'd love you way more if you'd realease the best movies of all time, the OT, in a remastered HD format). Nevertheless, I'm available to write.

People love to bash the guy at this point, but I'll always remember he's the guy that gave us THX 1138. Would love to see him try something sci-fi, but smaller in scope and focused on characters again.

. . . not a good SW movie. It was a nice series of video game cut-scenes, as has been said before. The prequels should have been focused on the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan and taken place on real sets with real props and with largely practical effects.

What would happen if George said "You know what? Screw you guys, I'm taking my ball and going home" and decided that Star Wars was over? Like, officially no more books, TV shows, spin-offs, toys, DVD's, movie screenings, all of it? I'd love to see anyone and I mean ANYONE have as big of an impact as he has had. If it all disappeared tomorrow, would you finally appreciate it?
Probably not. Oh well. Go on, Talkbackers, pour your poison out anonymously. I'm calling every one of you out. None of you has the balls to try to reach people the same way he did. Even to try and fail meant he did better than bitch like an elitist 12-year old. Just sayin'.

This whole story was already done a few years ago as a passable TV movie with Laurence Fishburne.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114745/
So probably better then Lucas's movie.
I have to admit I love watching that clip after they watch the rough cut of Phantom Menace.
Their faces just scream "Oh my god how did we make such a total clusterf**k!"

Based on Lucas' comment on the Daily Show "[Red Tails] is the closest you'l get to episode 7", he is planning on letting the Star Wars movies retire with him. That would be a total bitch move to screw fans for being critical him. Don't blame the fans George. We didn't invent Jar Jar or midoclorians and push them into the limelight. We didn't refuse to put out the original versions of the beloved OT. You shot first George Lucas. You did.

...who cares? He will or he won't - doesn't make any difference. He created the beast, he'll be know for that long after he dies. For however long he lives he's going to have to deal with the beasts behavior. There's nothing he can do to fix it or change it. What's done is done - he can do whatever he wants now, including more Star Wars - nothing will change.

There should be a documentary about how he changed the industry into somethimng that hates him. He created a fanbase of unprecedented size and devotion that wants to murder him, he pioneered digital effects to the point that they stop him from making a proper movie, he fought to have enough power in Hollywood to do what he wants and it turned out to be the worst thing that ever happened to him and his movies. It's like he asked a very dickish genie three wishes, around the time he made SW: Make people love my movie, give me the tools to put anything on screen and make everybody support my vision. And then the genie made them all come true but of course in a way that wouldn't make him happy.

I do thank you for the OT. It enriched my childhood (before that other thing happened). Now just make it (the OT) available. Oh, and Indy is pretty wonderful too.
You helped make the late 70s and 80s magical and I hope that someday that George Lucas comes back to kick some ass.
Maybe he will this Friday. We'll see.

The soul crushingly disappointment of the prequels and the stubborn refusal the put out the unedited OT while milking everyone for more and more edited versions and the fans are supposed to kiss his fat, bloated ass. Fuck that shit. He can cry ontop his mountain of money.

I love him, the prequels were a bit of a let down in some ways, but they were never going to live up to the hype, AND he was probably not aware of the scrutiny they would have to go through, the guy was just following up films he started making almost 25 years earlier, I for one had a happier childhood due to his efforts.....so fuck you all!!

If you take his movies too personally, then maybe the fault for that lies with you, not him.
Just my opinion.
But in the end, everyone who hurls such nasty, vitriolic insults toward him over a movie, a movie made with good intentions (instead of someone like Bret Ratner who just wants a paycheck), is going over the line.
Again, just my opinion.

Good. George, you've become a meddler. You built your success on a foundation made by a great TEAM of people -- you were only one part of that team. Over the years, you've taken something that team created, something magical and single-handedly (single-mindedly) "spruced it up" unnecessarily with your continual special edition changes. You're a hypocrite, to at one point rally against altering classic films and then doing the same yourself. Your SW prequels are some of the dullest film-making in the industry -- greenscreen fakery abounds, with dry, emotionless acting, and shot/reverse-shot snooze-worthy blocking. Please, just hang it up and retire with your riches and leave SW, Indy, and film-making alone.

you know that's it's been in development for years...he's just waiting for the next great tech advancement to come along...he never makes any other type of movie except the popcorn flicks...he's been talking about making smaller movies for years
the prequels were not as bad as some make it out to be...only issue with them is that we already knew how most of the stories would play out...there were no surprises...he had a chance to throw a few curves with the Darth Maul character but severely underestimated his value

=Why would I make any more, when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?=
That is not the right attitude to have when making a film, or any piece of art or when embarking upon any creative endeavor. Sure you have to think of your audience to some extent, but if all you are worried about is =will people like my movie= then you are fucked. I highly doubt the Lucas of the mid to late 70's gave a flying fuck whether Star Wars would become some massive hit. He wanted to make the original Star Wars because he believed it was a great story and it was worth the effort and risk to do so.
So what if some of the fans bitch. They have every right to when you endlessly tinker with the original Star Wars trilogy to the point that it gets worse and worse with each new edition, and then withhold the original un-altered theatrical cuts save for one lazy release on DVD in pan and scan 2-channel stereo sound.
Then there are the prequels, while they have their moments, and personally I am one of those fans that really likes ROTS, overall they weren't great movies and it just wasn't a great trilogy when it should have been at least better, if not kind of great. In fact, they were movies that had a lot of problems. It is just the way the cookie crumbled.
I could see if the prequels were a complete flop, but for fuck's sake they made a SHIT LOAD of money. The Phantom Menace, which had the biggest build up and then let down amongst the fans was still the highest grossing film of 1999. It beat out the much better yet unexpected smash hits The Sixth Sense and The Matrix which both came out the same summer.
It isn't that people are mad at you for the prequels George, it is that they are mad because they could have been so much more. It isn't that people don't want more Star Wars. The problem is that they want good Star Wars stories again but now the whole thing feels more like a money machine than a proper fictional universe where these great myths can spring forth from. They want stories that challenge them, that surprise them (example: reveal at the end of Empire). The whole prequel trilogy was devoid of the tension and moments of shock and surprise twists that the originals had, because we knew Anakin would become Vader. Now, that is an interesting story to some extent, but interesting enough to sustain three whole films? I don't know if it was the best move to go that route.
As for further comparisons to the originals, we want some subtlety, nuance, some seriousness mixed in with all the swashbuckling space opera fun and spectacle. Unlike the prequels that were weighed down by feeling too much like kids movies filled with Jar Jar, fart jokes, and just plain silliness.
Also, it wouldn't hurt to actually go out and shoot the fucking movies on a real location and build some nicely detailed sets. Sure effects have improved and the game has changed, but to go from watching a really clean and somewhat sterile looking space opera/political drama like the prequels, to a gritty and full of attitude and character swashbuckling space adventure with the original films, is fucking jarring as hell!
I mean, Farscape and Firely/Serenity had more of the attitude that the original Star Wars trilogy had than the prequel trilogy did.
Who says that you have to make more Star Wars and produce more Indy flicks, or that you are strictly limited to just working in that fictional universe? For God's sake, if I had that kind of dough over all these years, I'd be making all kinds of other films than just another trilogy set in one single fictional universe. So many filmmakers and artists would LOVE TO HAVE the millions (billions?) of dollars to throw at their dream projects that George Lucas has. Cameron had to work his ass off, make Titanic, the most successful film in the world up until more recently, and then develop a brand new 3D camera rig and support tech just so he could make one of his dream projects. Even then, he had to still go to 20th Century Fox for the money to make Avatar. And Cameron is a better screenwriter than Lucas is!
I mean, it isn't like you went home with the boobie prize there with the prequels Georgie. And what the fuck did you expect? That none of the fans would be disappointed that the prequels didn't nearly deliver on two decades worth of anticipation? Even if they were much better than what we ended up with, do you really think they were going to satisfy everyone who had been waiting all those years for more Star Wars, coupled with the immense hype surrounding The Phantom Menace?

No one wanted to see this shit because it was Lucas and no one has forgotten the shittitude of the prequels or his squabbles with the dga. All the other directors he mentioned in his inner circle have continued to work on new things, not beat dead horses into oblivion. I foresee him following Coppola into making arty farty flicks.
I guess what survives of star wars will be utterly destroyed by lucas' spoiled rotten fat fucking kids.

The guy is once-in-a-generation innovator. He may not be the best director or even writer, but his vision for science fiction and what can be done with a camera and film helped create the entire geek universe in which we dwell.
I can't help but think that anyone who is happy about this is simply not old enough to remember Star Wars or Indy in the theater but instead takes some sort of entitled, jaded "it's cool to hate" stance on anything he does.
The man is a legend. Fact.

If Lucas had been able to acknowledge the problems, particularly in terms of writing, and accept the fact that maybe he's not the best director when it comes to working with living human beings, and if he'd brought in someone else in to refine and polish his scripts and handle the directorial work when it came to the more personal, intimate scenes where humanity really needed to shine through to give us, the audience, an emotional anchor. If, after the backlash of The Phantom Menace, Lucas realized he probably wasn't capable of executing the prequels in the way the fans demands, and the way the films deserved, he had the courage and humility to bring in some help - and not just surround himself with toadie 'Yes' men too afraid to speak honestly and bluntly about the quality of the material they were churning out - I could've forgiven his misstep. Or if Lucas were willing to step back, disengage his ego and let someone else play in his universe and write/direct, say, an Old Republic trilogy of Star War films, again, I'd forgive Lucas. Or, hell, just release the original trilogy on Blu-Ray without all the damn alterations (which, I'm honestly not sure if that was his way of angrily pissing on fans who pissed on his prequels, or just further evidence that the man has completely lost his handle on the craft of storytelling and moviemaking).
The reason the prequels are so reviled is because they could've been so much more than what we'd got, if only Lucas had the willingness, the humility, to see something wasn't working and he'd brought in some help to make those films fire on all cylinders. I don't begrudge him for wanting to do it on his own, since he created the damn thing, but he really should've been concerned with something more than matching/exceeding Titanic's box office returns.

There's definitely some terrible episodes and completely pointless arcs, but each year they're making a few hours of the best Star Wars you've seen since the 80s.
And it's only a cartoon.
I think the cartoon is sort of an an animatic-in-progress for the upcoming TV series. Once they finesse the scale and movement, it'll be ready for live action. What are they missing other than a few layers of details?
Yet they say they can't make the show on cheap yet. I think they need to challenge themselves and just make it. Hopefully it's good.

I rant about Lucas like I rant about politics.
He always talked about how SW was his and he was free to do whatever he wished, like all of SW was his own personal property. While the legal "rights" are his, that is a social artifice and it long ago became more than that. His movie, OUR story. Everyone knows its fiction, but stories that catch hold are the only living mythology that the modern world has. Whether you like SW or not, the story is now embedded in western culture. People have gone to war and killed to defend their cultural beliefs.
An over the top comparison, but I'm reminded how Mohammed tried adding sacred writings later in his life and he got shouted down and accused of being influenced by satan.

And those guys, with the exception of James Cameron, have produced a much larger and more diverse filmography than Lucas has.
Cameron made the two highest grossing movies of all time with Titanic and Avatar, and people hated him with ever more fury and bile the more successful that he became.
People do that because that is how we are. Some have valid criticisms and others are just spewing hate and jealousy.
That is the arts for ya. Especially mainstream filmmaking.
Shit, if I were a big uber-successful director with wads of cash and carte blanch to make pretty much any films I wanted, do you think I'd give two shits out of Jabba the Hutt's ass, or tail in this case, what the internet fanboys think?
FUCK NO!!!!!!
Now, if Lucas is going to retire because he just feels it is time for that, wants to spend more time with his family, etc... then that is great. I think anyone with some sense of decency can respect that.
It just annoys me that he pouts and sorta blames the disappointed fans for killing the notion of more big budget theatrical Star Wars films with his whiny comment from this article; especially when he has been slowly murdering Star Wars over the past fifteen years by poking away at it with the poisonous toothpick known as his -obsessive compulsive tinkering to preserve his original vision- of the original trilogy.

... over what the fans want.
It makes me laugh when people try to pain Lucas as a douchebag bc he didn't let other people make the prequels, as if he had a responsibility and a duty to make the vocal fanboys as happy...
... as opposed to doing what he had set out to do: make three more movies his way. When you write scripts and you wish to make the movies, why you should suddenly limit yourself bc of angry fans? If you want to do it, do it. And so that's what he did.
But the idea that he *should* have handed the series over to someone better? Its laughable.

Then taken great film makers of the day to direct the prequels. If he was just a producer and educator at this point he would have made American cinema matter again, by helping educate film makers about digital cinema.
But instead he made money, so good for him.
The emperor wears no cloths.

Just watched the three "cinematic" trailers for Star Wars The Old Republic MMO today back to back. Those three trailers have more creativity in them than the first two films of the prequels combined. I still love ROTS, despite what some people think of it. Just wished Phantom Menace wasn't so shitty. Someone CGI out Jake Lloyd please! Anyway, a full on movie like TOR trailers, not directed by Lucas would make me happy.

He may be right about that, but is he just miffed or has he taken a good hard look at what he produced and still think fans are just mean-spirited?
I'm not one that is bent out of shape about the prequels, but they did make me not care about Star Wars anymore. I'll always have the originals as part of my childhood.. and I don't hate the prequels as much as most... but I think they lack what made the originals so great, and that's charm and chemistry amongst the cast.

If he is being honest with himself in regards to that, then I say he did a good thing and I can respect his decision.
If they did more Star Wars films, I'd want other directors at the helm at this point anyways. It is a pity we never got a Spielberg directed Star Wars (wasn't he originally supposed to direct ROTJ?).
How about a more eastern minded director? Someone from Asia, or India like maybe Tarsem (although he might go too nuts with the design) making a more Jedi centric film that has more lightsaber duels and showcases that side of the Star Wars universe in place of the epic space battles and pod racing types of things?
I don't know, there is a lot that can be done with it.
I just feel like Star Wars needs to move away from the standard cast of characters like Obiwan, Luke, Leia, Han, Yoda, Vader, and Boba Fett.
That is why The Old Republic game looks so cool. I'm not an MMO player, but the cinematics for the game look great and have a really epic feel. It has me really intrigued.
I'd love to see a setting like The Old Republic put onscreen in all its glory by a hungry up and coming filmmaker with some fire in them.

... especially when he can't even quit fucking around with those six STAR WARS movies. He's probably pissed off this week that he had to shell out cash that he isn't guaranteed to get back with RED TAILS, but ... yeah.</p><p>
Also, if he's that upset about the fans' reaction to the prequels, WHY DIDN'T HE TRY TO AT LEAST MAKE THE LAST TWO MOVIES ACTUALLY WATCHABLE?!? He's really gotta man up. What's he gonna do when RED TAILS does WILLOW, LABYRINTH or (even worse) RADIOLAND MURDERS numbers (despite the fan love now for at least two of those movies, all three of them were box office and critical flops)?!? Kill himself? 'Cause, let's face it, if it doesn't have the words "STAR WARS" or "INDIANA JONES" at the beginning of its title, everything George Lucas touches pretty much turns to shit.

It's like when Rob Zombie gave Michael Meyers a backstory. What made Meyers interesting is that there was no reason for what he did.
In a sense it's the same way with Vader. He did cool shit and fans didn't care what his motivation was. We just knew he was evil.

Both gained financial independence to make their own films their way for the most part, where other filmmakers seem to be tied to the studios.
After gaining this financial filmmaker freedom, both of the them got stuck kinda doing the same thing over and over.
Lucas got stuck in Star Wars, yet he always goes on and on about how he wants to make all these small, personal or experimental films.
Rodriguez sort of has one foot stuck in his wacky grindhouse universe, with the other is firmly planted in his crappy kids movie bizarro land.
It seems to me, that both of the these guys made much better films when they were dependent on the studios for financing, rather than when they became pretty much free from it.
Seems bizarre to me that they aren't making the better and more personal films now rather than before when they had the suits breathing down their necks.

You've made some of the greatest movies in the history of film. No one can even begin to measure impact Star Wars has had on the world and no one can take them away from you, or us. Not even yourself. If you really look at the prequels there is actually a lot to love (I know, heresy!) Perhaps they were a consequence of having no one to tell you no anymore. But who am I to tell you anything? I can't begin to understand what your mindset is like. To have created a phenomena that has reached so many over generations must be mind blowing. It is a tremendous burden to uphold and I think you've gone above and beyond in that regard. I really do think you just want to make movies that will make people happy and for many, you have.
I am thankful for what you have given all of us, and I'm excited at the prospect of you returning to smaller films and other projects. I hope they bring you joy and happiness. I for one can't wait to see what you cook up!

All he did was make some good movies where 99% of the work was done by actors, editors, SFX designers, costume makers, FX artists, etc.
I, on the other hand, have made computer games entirely by myself: graphics, writing, music, sound effects, programming, etc.
Did he make more money? Sure he did, but my games don't have people making fun of me for being retarded, either.
If it's all about money then I guess Avatar is the greatest movie ever made...and it probably is to a mongoloid like you.

The problem is all of the suckups and asskissers he has surrounded himself with. He has NOBODY around him willing to tell him the truth, NOBODY willing to challenge him or question his ideas.
Just watch those documentaries about him- everybody around him is walking on eggshells, afraid to breathe. Afraid to laugh until he laughs.
I don't think George understands how distorted the reality around him has become. He is truly cut off from a normal human existence.
In the old days, he was a man working among his equals. Star Wars made him into a king, and a king has no equals.

It's been over two decades since I liked a Lucasfilm production (Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade). Since then, he managed to pollute Star Wars so badly that I can't even really watch the original films anymore.
I will not miss his contributions to film, there are plenty of guys making the kinds of movies I want to see, nowadays.

Please tell me you are joking right?
"OUR Story"???
You are a complete and utter douchebag. it is his story, his vision, and no matter how popular it has gotten he has every right to do whatever he wants to do with it. It is a series of movies, not a economical or political movement that can cause life or death. Get over it, or get off the couch and do something else with your life.
I hate people talking about movies like they are Gods and should never be touched, and we should worship them. Ugh.
Star Wars should not be running your life, and if George changes them, it should not upend your life to the point of crying and shouting out in anger. In fact, if it affected your emotions at all, you need to stop watching movies and start doing something productive with your life. Volunteer at a shelter, help out the elderly, something to get your lame brain away from being so entrenched into a movie.
I love movies, and I like to discuss whether I enjoyed an experience, or did not, but no movie is going to run my life like Star Wars does for so many people.
No, it is not "OUR Story" it is intellectual property owned by a specific person which means he has all right to do whatever he wants with it. We have the right to choose whether we like said changes. THAT'S ALL.
Whew...okay I'm done.

I met someone recently who had no idea what a lightsaber was (although he recognised it when he saw one - he just didn't know what it was called). The prequels killed Star Wars.
Fuck George Lucas and his shitty prequels

I dont' know what to make of this. He was hurt that everyone yelled at him? Yet he still continued to make those films his way instead of changing course. And it takes him decades to get anything made. How long was Red Tails kicking around again? So yeah, go make your art films you've been threatening to make since 1983, we'll see if any get made before he dies.
I would be perfectly happy for him to be "done" if that meant going back to a model that worked: That being, Executive Producing things like Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Give up some control and let some good film makers and creative minds make awesome movies. We'll see how Red Tails turned out but on the surface at least it looks good. Stick with what works.

Everything from the story decisions, to character decisions, to casting decisions was lacking in the prequels. Jake Lloyd is horrendous. He should have skewed Anakin a tad older and gotten a much better actor, also when the dailies came in he should have gotten rid of him right then and there. Hayden is fine in some other work, like Shattered Glass, but is lost in the green screen work. Jar Jar doesn't work on any level and reduced TPM from being a family movie like the original movies, to being a straight up kids movie.
Neeson, MacGregor, and Park are pretty good choices in their roles. Sam Jackson kind of stands out in a bad way, not because of his performance, but in the expectation he brings. But, why did he cut Yoda and Qui-Gon's force ghost discussion from ROTS which helped bring the Jedi story full circle and explain the different attitude in training and understanding of the force that Luke received vs. previous apprentices under the Jedi Order? Be mindful of the living force.
Like others pointed out, what Bioware did with the Star Wars universe blew away everything Lucas and LucasFilm have done with the universe in the last 15 years. When Lucas goes, I hope his kids put the story rights up for auction and a company lie Bioware buys them and shows proper care to this IP.

=It's like when Rob Zombie gave Michael Meyers a backstory. What made Meyers interesting is that there was no reason for what he did.
In a sense it's the same way with Vader. He did cool shit and fans didn't care what his motivation was. We just knew he was evil.=
Yep.
And for all we needed to know about Vader, we got little bits of info throughout the trilogy about who he was before he was the mighty Darth Vader.
We were given enough info so we could understand the story and the point that Lucas and the other writers and directors were trying to make with that character.
It is the same with Yoda. Sure seeing him fly around like a ninja frog with a lightsaber was a fun gag in Attack of the Clones. The problem is that it also taints the Yoda from Empire Strikes Back. It makes him more of a silly special effect and less of a genuine character. Also, the way Yoda is designed, basically his size and body type, overall look and attitude, was obviously tailor made for the original incarnation of the character, which was a wise old sage and teacher in Empire. If back during the creation of Empire Strikes Back, they had required him to jump all over the place and fight, then I guarantee they'd have went with a different design both for story reasons and practical considerations.
But then in the prequels, all they've done is de-aged Yoda and then given him all kinds of silly stuff to do. It robs the character of its essence and overall purpose within the grander story. It is retconning pure and simple.

A law is passed that allows persecution for anonymous internet libel. It would at least stop the mindless hate hate hate hate hate and perhaps give way to reasonable arguments. Anonymity brings out the worst in people.

You fools dont know shit. This guy changed the world and filmmaking forever and for the better. He made 10 blockbusters and has billions not to mention redefined sfx and sound editing. His marketing strategy with SW merchandise made him rich and defined a new concept.
What have you naysayers done except throw money at Lucas for many years do see what he comes up with next. Fact.
So stfu !

Considering Akira Kurosawa was a major influence on George Lucas and Star Wars, and considering George Lucas helped Kurosawa get "Kagemusha" made, yes, they are in the same sentence.
Welcome to school.

That's the main thing I got out of that long article. But good for him, he deserves some happiness in his old age. I hope he does actually stop making, whatever he has been making these last 20 years or so. Would be interesting to see what one of those small personal films(that he's been talking about for ages) from him would be like. I do love both the short and feature versions of THC. But I don't know if he can still make those movies anymore. The best thing for Lucas would probably be to just retire, marry his new chick and live happily ever after.

Also I would add, that why would someone go from ninja to decrepit invalid between the age of 880 and 900? That is basically 2 tenths of one percent of his of his lifespan or basically the difference between someone being 49 and someone being 50. NOT MUCH CHANGE. Also The Jedi always seemed like Samurai, and all of a sudden one if a Ninja. I would have expected Yoda to be a lot more formal and use his small size to evade and anklebite...rather than jumping into his opponent's "strike zone" like that.

I mean I shouldn't be surprised. He's got money and he's a legendary filmmaker, but I just can't picture him playing the game. It's really kind of freaking me out. Trying to keep my mind from wandering too far into his boudoir.

He reined in Lucas' worst tendencies. Of course Megalomaniac George could not handle that and tossed his ass and brought in the ultimate Yes Man, Rick McCallum. How many people like John Dykstra have come out and said George loves surrounding himself with sycophants and worshippers and he shit cans the workers with any sense of independence or those that tell him his ideas are bad.
Did anybody at LucasFilm see the AOTC battle scenes and point out to George... "You know these look like Video Game Cut Scenes and NOT a FILM!. Since they don't look like reality, they carry no gravity, George!".

Pretending for a moment Ep 1 and the special editions are the worst things ever... THEY ARE JUST MOVIES.
If you want to watch the original editions, I'm sure you have them. You can't have Blu-Ray all cleaned up ones, because they wouldn't be the original versions. Can't have your cake and eat it too. Watch your old VHS/Laser Discs.. the way they used to be, and be happy.
Someone here posting he was hoping this story was Lucas' Obit? Really? I don't know the man. I don't like or hate him enough for that..
I can't stand Keanu Reeves as an actor..but i don't wish him dead.
What is wrong with you people?
Pathetic

He's been giving a big FUCK YOU to a generation of people , tinkering with things that people didn't want to have them tinkered with, and when he could have gone back and fix what he had broken, he tinkered with them even more? (NOOOOO!) and then he gets butt-hurt when people tell him he's a jerk? I wonder why people are pissed with him, it does not make any sense. Fuck you, Lucas, the farther away you stay to your "legacy" the better that legacy will live on. go back to your experiments and leave us alone. If Indy 4 and the prequels proved anything is that you're a hack who can't really write. Go back to your cave, get rid of your yes men, pop in your prequels, Special Editions and Indy 4 (And Howard, The Duck, why not?!) and watch them without any yes-men around and with an open heart and see where you went wrong, THEN come back and try again. I'm sure with time, people will be willing to give you another chance.

Ferchrissakes it was a joke about the obit...welcome to the fucking internet, Nancy.

Jan. 17, 2012, 7:11 p.m. CST

by romanxp47

He's done. Too many years of being surrounded by an army of yes-men, and he's still addicted to adoration. He can make experimental films until hell freezes over, but as long as he thinks no one since Joseph Campbell has anything to teach him, he's not going to have much in the way of ideas. Reliable reports from Lucasfilm paint a vivid and convincing picture of a man who is utterly compelled to take every single scrap of credit for absolutely everything, who still thinks "The Phantom Menace" is great (still thinks Jar-Jar and Howard the Duck are funny). Success spoiled Lucas a long time ago; longer than most would care to admit. He really couldn't even finish the first SW trilogy (4-6) without making a hash of it.
He'll count his money, and keep himself surrounded by an army of people who think he's God, and hold them in abject contempt. Because, hey, it's easier than thinking.

. . . and probably the list goes on. He has an idea and even if it's a bad one HE CAN'T LET GO OF IT!!!!
Howard the Duck, really??? There must have been someone at the time tell him DON"T DO IT!
Special Editions? Make a few updates for F/X, and then leave it alone! Why keep changing them? Cuz he CAN'T LET GO!!
Every stupid idea for Indy 5 does go to Lucas, why? Because when someone tells Lucas it's not a great idea, HE CAN'T LET GO and pushes it through . . .
And Red Tails? An idea he has had for 25 years and he's just getting around to it . . . he should have LET IT GO and do something the general public might enjoy, instead of wasting all that time . . . .
Just LET GO LUCAS!! Let someone edit some of the good ideas you might have and turn them into something great.

. . . practical effects would have made better movies. Quite simple. It wouldn't have saved the prequels, though. Better writing, acting and directing would have been required for that. Hopefully whoever takes over Star Wars will give a shit about it and not just the money it makes (although I think they will find they will make more money if they make it of better quality -- see LOTR and the OT).

What the fuck man! seriously? I mean everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But you seriously prefer the prequels over the original trilogy, because of it's story? And I can assure you George Lucas hasn't read your, or any of our comments here.

He doesn't know his fans, he has no clue how important the org trilogy and the star wars universe is to those of us who grew up watching it religously. Who was his target audience with the Prequels??? Not me, I hate 'em, not my children who are at the prime age I was when the org trilogy came out. My kids wont even watch The Clone Wars Series, they could care less. So now his feelings are hurt? Make it right Lucas, get in touch with your feelings, I mean your fans, because those of us who shout with contempt at your recent debacles still have a special place in our hearts for you.

And i do hate Twilight, SAW, I LOATH the new Transformers (except Nimoy kicking as in 3) I haven't even seen Resident Evil and i hate Lady Gaga (and loved when Madonna trashed her the other night)... I did like the old 90210.. at least the first 3 years, does that count?
Anyway, I saw Empire and Jedi back in the theaters (tad too young to have seen New Hope in theaters, but my Dad says i was at the drive in to see the re-release in 79), I had all the Kenner toys... I loved the films and i grew up on them.
That said, I like the Special Editions (the greedo thing looks lame) but in general I either don't mind the new stuff, or I actually think its an improvement. I like the New Hope Jabba scene NOW (the first version in 97 was shitty).
As far as the prequels, I do thing Ep 1 is the weakest of the 6 films and could really use a re-edit. Less Jar Jar, but more importantly cleaning up the first half hour to get to the important stuff faster. It's just a bit sloppy. BUT, being the weakest Star Wars is one thing.. doesn't mean its not better than most of the other Sci/Fi action crap made today. I enjoyed the film first time out and while it could use some tweaks, its a fun film.
I like the other two, and in fact Ep 3 is my favorite of all 6.
But I try not to rank them as I really see them as one film. That's how the majority of people see it too.. as just 'Star Wars'. I was talking to two movie fans today.. not Star Wars fanboys, just movie fans who like all 6, quite alot... and they look forward to seeing Ep 1 on Feb 10th. It will make millions and George will see that its only a very small group (ok large group) of dorks still living in 1983 when they still had a life ahead of them ... that now don't leave there house and stay on the internet all day and talk about ow they 'hate' a man for re-editing HIS OWN FILM
Me.. my issue is I HATE 3D...lol - I very much want to see Ep 1 in theaters again, but I don't care much for seeing it in 3D. I think I will give it a shot, and then see it in 2D as well.
But see.. even if I did hate them, I just wouldn't watch them. It's that easy. Indy 4 was weak.. so i didn't buy the DVD. Didn't seem to ruin 1-3 though.
Say it together JUST MOVIES
Now go outside and talk to actual people about world issues, or tell jokes or just have a drink and enjoy company.

... he did the same thing he did back in the late 70's/early 80's and handed the other two films in the trilogy to other directors.
I think Ang Lee would've done a beautiful job on Episode II (if he went for that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon vibe).
Someone like Sam Raimi (in full on Evil Dead mode), David Fincher, or maybe even Brian DePalma could've made something interesting out of Ep III... or maybe even bring Irvin Kershner back!
I read interviews with the Kersh saying he would've considered coming out of retirment to do one if asked...
But no, Lucas insisted on doing them himself.
And the rest as they say, is history.

I dont know how you can think that SW isnt a cultural icon. Im a fan, but not a die hard psycho. I dont have a jedi costume, own a lightsaber, or any collectibles. The story obviously means more to many people than just a fun movie that some guy made. It was adopted by popular culture and took on a life of its own. Lucas has the exclusive legal rights to collect all the money made and add to or change the story as much as he likes, but ownership is a social construct. Im talking about how ppl feel about it.
He fucked with the story too much, a story that really means something to a lot of ppl and they hate him for fucking with their myth and acting like he is the ultimate arbiter of what the story of SW is, ie: what it means to them. If I ever wrote a story so good it caught the imagination of society as a whole in a way I never expected, I would hope Id respect how ppl felt about it, since that is what made it so popular in the first place.
At some point, Lucas decided it was all about him and anything he felt like crapping out was the real deal and fanboys could suck it, because he WAS Star Wars itself, and all that the story meant to everyone. No one cares that he can do whatever he wants with the legal franchise, they wonder why he would use that right to fuck with a myth/story that means something to them.

While i don't HATE any of them, I do agree the 'kidness' in everyone makes them old the older ones in higher light.
I look at them for what they were.. I enjoy them all.. but honestly ep 4 has just as much stiff acting and bad writing as Ep 1, 2 or 3 does.
I still enjoy them all, but they are not 'great' films.. at all.
They are fun sci-fi action family films

I know they aren't great films, but every one of them has something in it to enjoy. Of course they don't touch the originals; but what great 70's/80's director still operates at that level? Spielberg? Scott? Carpenter? Scorsese? Cameron? (sure AVATAR made $, but it's brimming with cliches and boasts the simplest plot imaginable -- and he's giving us two more!) Lucas is no guiltier than anyone else -- if anything, SW was just so phenomenally great his later missteps are exaggerated. So I don't hate the prequels, and I don't hate him. I'm surprised anyone can hate the father of STAR WARS and Indy.

I'm not going to shed a tear for George Lucas. The prequels were lousy, period, and they made a shitload of money. The Clone Wars TV show is very well done and quite compelling at times, but Lucas' involvement isn't as intense as it was on the movies. Film is a collaborative medium. Always has been, always will be. There has maybe been half a dozen studio executives that understand filmmaking since the collapse of the studio system. Most studio execs are pinheads with law degrees. However, Lucas developed a situation where he became the executive through the massive success of the Original Trilogy. He was now the guy that everyone said yes to. I didn't see Lawrence Kasdan's name in the credits on the perquels. Lucas was the guy that fucked shit up - his own shit - and people didn't like it. Thats the way it goes. The thrill of seeing Star Wars when I was a kid is something that will stay with me forever. Those memories are intact. There is nothing to forgive Lucas for. He's not the first guy to make some shitty movies. Did I want to love Episode 1? I fully expected Episode 1 to blow my head off, but it was a colossal letdown. The only thing that pisses me off is that I can't get the Original, unfucked with, Trilogy on Blu Ray. There is probably residual spite directed at the prequels due to that, but fuck it. I sure as hell don't want to see another Star Wars movie or TV show. I've had my fill. Maybe he should make something else? Its only been 35 fucking years.

Keep it simple and stick to Joseph Campbell, samurai movies and western homages. And personally, I think he needed someone to say 'why?' to him. Not 'no'. Just 'why'. We might have ended up without Jar Jar Binks, trade conflicts, teen princesses in love with five year olds, and wussy frog-like villains who sounded like WWII propoganda Tojos.

Does not mean someone is part of the studio system, as if those are opposite sides of a coin. And it sounds like you're holding these two to some standard they never set out to be a part of: they didn't set out to change cinema or finance others. They set out to be successful filmmakers, filmmakers who could make the movies they wanted to make without much interference.
And that's pretty much exactly what happened. Neither damaged cinema because of this. So what if they didn't become independent producers? Its moot.

So, let me get this straight, we've been hearing George Lucas threaten to make a low budget "experimental" film (such as the one he did in film school that he turned into his first feature) for, oh, over a quarter of a century now. Well... GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!!! Honestly, is you love experimental independent film so goddam much, Lucas, what exactly has been stopping you from using a pittance of your gazillions to finance dozens of said experimental, low-budget independent films each and every year? Where exactly is that grants program for gifted young writers and filmmakers? My god, what a canon of art you could have produced by now. But, I understand, pimping war porn and plastic weapons to kiddies is demanding work, and business has been brisk. Of course, I'm sure you won't be walking away from that cash cow anytime soon, will you Mr. Arty-Pants.

...screwing up the Original Trilogy. Give us back the original films! Or just STOP messing with them! Then he can go make more new and original movies all he wants. He might even win some fans back that way.

Neil Blomkampwhatshisname for example. It's about time Georgie boy got back to his student roots, scouted new talent, and give them opportunities.
Except Josh Trank. Please, not that pretentious little Zach Snyder wannabe fuck.

If he would simply accept critique from credible sources during the creative process rather than suffering from the paranoid delusion that anyone who doesn't agree with him, or tells him some aspect of his approach is a bad idea, is trying to sabotage and undermine him, then maybe he'd still be a relevant producer/director. Instead he's merely the self-derailing caretaker of a cash cow.
Is he financially relevant still, of course. But is he artistically relevant? No Way.
Lucas hasn't been relevant since half way through the production of Empire, when he began to ostracize anyone who was capable of saving George from George, and began surrounding himself with an army of creative individuals, who are afraid to tell him "No".
The only thing that made his stilted dialog and corny concept work in the first films was by leaning on veteran actors like Guinness, Cushing, Jones, and (yes even) Ford, and collaborating with artists equal to his vision. By the time the prequels came to pass he was "Master" and know one knew better than him, so why consider input from others?
I have no idea what Lucas is like as a human being, but as a creator, he's is his own worst enemy; let him whine and bitch and crawl back into his grumpy-old-man cave and never make another horrid film again. Why should we care? The original Trilogy, 1138, and even Graffiti have outgrown him, even while standing still in time, which to me says that in the walled garden of his power he's only regressed as an artist.

I can't believe how negative people are on here. Why are you on this site if you hate George Lucas? Because Boba Fett wasn't the Boba Fett you dreamed about when you saw Return of the Jedi when you were 7? Because Indiana Jones wasn't as good as he was 20 years ago? Without George Lucas, we wouldn't have half the genre films made today. Why do I keep reading these comments and making myself crazy?

I am no Lucas fanboy. I find that some of his changes to the originals are idiotic. I also think he talks a ton of shit sometimes and he surely screwed up with the prequels on some levels. Also, he has too many yes-men around him... and I've been told that by people who work, or worked, for him.
However, he got unfairly blasted for Phantom Menace. The movie actually works very well on almost every level. Is Jar-Jar too annoying at times? Sure. Are these scenes in the movie made for little kids and not for adults? Hell yes. But tons of movies do that these days and NO ONE BATS AN EYE.
No, it was because asshole fanboys built Lucas up more than he ever deserved that they suddenly felt like they owed it to him to bring him down. And that's bullshit. Plus, Attack of the Clones was a far worse movie, execution wise, and somehow those same fanboys actually said it was BETTER than Menace? Why? Less cutesie kid shit. No other reason.
I don't really care if you think Menace sucks. I dig it. I may dig the Phantom Edit more, but I dig the movie even with Jar-Jar's idiocy in it. Because it is a solid movie, with a well constructed narrative, good pacing, and characters I actually give a shit about. You know, unlike Return of the Jedi.

...it was playing a 99 cent theater after my father died. I was very young and went to see it every single afternoon after school. I skipped lunch to have that 99 cents. And for a couple hours a day I was somewhere else.
Yeah, the prequels were bad, and that includes Sith (Portman dying of the unexplained sadz, Annakin killing the younglings...and the idiocy of using the word younglilngs at what should have been such an emotional beat...with no character work done to justify his actions as anything but an 'he done gone crazy, ma') and yes, Greedo shot first every single time I paid my 99 cents. What Lucas has done to the original movies these past few years has done justifiable harm to his reputation...no argument there.
But he made some magic thirty some years ago. I'm still sad to read this, though even if he continues he will almost certainly never make magic again.

Comparing the "fanboys" to the studios who forcibly edited his earlier movies is a bizarre comparison. Lucas has forced change after change, money-grubbing addition after money-grubbing addition, on the fans of his movies who believe his original films were perfect the way they were.
If anything, he's more like the studio in this case. He became the very thing he hated.

What it has become, however, is a sad, lumbering joke. Yes, yes, it was always corny and wide eyed and naive; but it was AWESOMELY so between Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. After that it was corny, wide-eyed, naive and really REALLY DUMB. Anyone who says any different is wrong.
(Keeping in mind that I still like ROTJ and even like ROTS even though it's deeply flawed.)

You are a pathetic ass clown with no talent of their own. Am I the only person here who is fucking sick of creepy douche bag??? I can only imagine what kind of person you really are and what your surroundings are like. I read every story that comes through here and just about all the talk backs, and I gotta say you are without a doubt the saddest excuse for a human being I have ever seen. I mean how sad is your life? Do you still live with mommy and daddy?? Did they beat you or neglect you or something?? You used to piss me off. Now I just can't help but feel a little sorry for you. You must really look forward to waking up in the morning,rubbing one off and having your mom make you pop-tarts while you rub your hands together and get all excited about going to AICN so you can say retarded shit to people you don't know and express an opinion nobody wants to hear. I know you think it's cool to type in all caps and say FACT all the time because you think it's your neat little "gimmick" or something, but the FACT is....you are a lame piece of shit man. Get over the fact that you own a shit load of movies. It doesn't make you smarter than anyone else. It doesn't make you any sort of film expert. It makes you one of thousands of guys who watch movies and then go online to tell people that they are either idiots or geniuses for agreeing with you or not.

Don't think he should get bent out of shape and retire... he should get in touch with what made him awesome! Star Wars (the original trilogy) shows that he is a brilliant storyteller... but not a brilliant writer. He is a visionary, but not the best Director. He needs to focus on partnering with others with great ideas and make some magic again - we all know he has it in him!!!

He just opened a facility in Melbourne, Australia, and is really putting a lot of effort into refining the technology and making it better.
Compare to George Lucas, who went gaga for CGI... and then took it nowhere.

...So thanks, George for Star Wars, for hiring Kershner to helm Empire, thanks also for teaming with Spielberg for Raiders and all the great work ILM's done over the years. I'll wish ya well in your retirement and overlook Return of the Jedi, the dreaded Prequels, Howard The Duck and the nigh-unwatchable Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The fact that he hasn't released the original Stars Wars films on Blu-Ray means he doesn't understand what they mean to this culture.
In terms of pure business he would make a fortune releasing both the original cuts and the special edition cuts in a Blu-Ray special edition set. But this isn't about money for him. It's about his ego. He believes the first three Star Wars films were never finished and the special editions he released in the 90s are the completed versions.
BOO George.
Don't play the victim. You may own the copyright to the Star Wars franchise but those films are not yours. They wouldn't exist if we didn't watch them.

Not because you made new versions of Star Wars, but because you are intent no obliterating and disallowing any quality versions of 3 historic films (Which succeeded due to collaboration with MANY people…2 of which you didn’t even direct).
You once called the people who did this “Barbarians” in congressional testimony….I agree you are an arrogant barbarian George…put me in the group of those who used to think you were great, but won’t never pay for anything you make again
….cause you’re a douche dude.

they just say it to sound cool on forums...they all have the 6 Star Wars movie on DVD or Blu-ray and love most of it...they just like to pretend to hate everything Star Wars because it's the cool thing to do...but we all know most people here are super nerds with no real life outside forums so they will keep pretending to hate on everything until it becomes cool not to hate

GEORGE LUCAS IS A DOUCHE,
HE CAME UP WITH TWO GOOD IDEAS.
HE WAS NEVER A GREAT WRITER OR DIRECTOR. HE WAS A GOOD MARKETER THAT IN THE END HE BECAME WHAT HE HATED MOST, HE BECAME A STUDIO HEAD!!
HE GOES OUT WITH A BUST WITH THE FAIRY TALE RED TAILS IN WHICH HE TRY'S TO SHOVE DOWN ARE MOUTH THAT THE RED TAILS WON THE WAR?? THE TRUTH IS THAT THE LUFTWAFFE COULD HAVE FLOWN THERE PLANES WITH BLIND FOLDS AND ONE ONE TIED BEHIND THIER BACKS AND THEY WOULD HAVE STILL CRUSH THESE RED TAILS.
ONL A LIBERAL HACK LIKE HARRY KNOWLES WOULD LOVE THIS UBER LIBERAL FAIRY TAL
GEORGE LUCAS IS WHAT WE HERE IN MIAMI CALL HIM
LA VACA!!! TRANSLATION
THE COW BECAUSE HE IS A LAZY NO TALENT HACK!!!

He's directed 5 films in the last 30 years. I don't think he'll have problems staying away. If he really had any desire to make independent or experimental films he's had plenty of time and money to do it.

I live in an alternate universe where as soon as "Heir to the Empire" was written (about 1990), production began on the Thrawn Trilogy films, starring all the original cast, written and directed by someone other than Lucas (as the best Star Wars film was). I try to live there as much as possible, because this universe, at least where Star Wars is concerned, sucks.

Nice theory...but I really do hate the prequels and don't own one of them--and never will. I would venture to say that most of the true haters are in their 30's and 40's and won't touch these turds with a 10 foot pole. We know good films--and these aren't 3 of them.

Furry worms that eat the Force and clone wiiith muuultiple voweeeels in their naaames. GENIUS!
Lucas started ILM, at least give him credit for that. If if weren't for Lucas and ILM, there would be no Weta and Lord of the Rings would have been made with claymation. So what if the guy can't write dialog. He's responsible for what most geeks see on the screen and jerk off to.

If he really did care.
He would admit failure.
Re-write and reshoot and re fucking make all 3 fucking prequels.
Or give permission for someone else to do it.
Why can't Star Wars be re-booted like Spiderman or Superman? Ego. That's why--and that's why he's hated.

release the unedited Original Trilogy and allow passionate and gifted filmakers to make episodes 7-9. After that the fans will love you again, the legacy of Star Wars will be restored and the galaxy will be back in balance again.

thanks george for everything you've done. I will always remember the first time i saw star wars, it changed my life.
The indiana jones trilogy, willow...
And of course i will always remember the first time you said that a new star wars was on pre-production !
remember old folks it was so mind blowing, we waited, we bought every first toys on sale, we watched the trailer a thousand times, and then the movie... all have been said for this.
But anyway thanks for Pixar, I.L.M, all the modern special effects movies would not be there without you.
Thanks for all Mister Lucas and respect for your work.

The rights to Spider-Man are owned by Sony and if they don't make a new movie within a certain period of time the rights revert back to Marvel. It doesn't actually have to be a reboot but I assume they think that's easier. It's a similar deal with Superman and some other comic properties.

The prequels were terrible and 99% of the changes he made to the original trilogy were terrible.
I don't wish ill on the man. I just think he's a terrible writer, director and producer, who's a jerk to Star Wars fans.
Han shot first.

they are spoiled brat children living in a spoiled brat country complaining that the $10 and 2 hours they spent on entertainment that cost hundreds of millions to produce
they deserve the shitty way they get treated, because they are such shits

Well, he pretty much deserved it for the prequels, but still. As a lifelong fan of his best work, I will always love Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Always. (and despite their deserved critical lambasting, the Star Wars prequels are STILL the best Sci-Fi movies around. Search your feelings. You know it to be true!)
And "American Graffiti" is still the best teen/coming-of-age/single-night/party movie ever made. (and pretty much established the entire genre. Much like he did with Star Wars and Indiana Jones, come to thing of it!)
This is probably a good thing that he's retiring. Now he and fellow ex-filmmaker Francis Coppola can make wine and enjoy the sunset of their lives. (what's that? Coppola didn't retire yet? Oh. Well. He should, too!)
Anyway, Thank you George for all the great movies you've made in a spectacular film career. For better or worse, you made Film what it is today. You will be missed by many! (now please just give Star Wars VII-IX to David Fincher and let him go wild! ;)

He did exactly the opposite to everything the fans wanted and now he's acting surprised and hurt...?
His massive talentless ego ruined all the goodwill generated in the first trilogy. And then he just went on and on and made the films worse.

Billions of dollars and decades to produce.... an alien Stephen Fetchit stepping in shit?
His ego wrote checks his talent couldn't cash.
The man is clueless when it comes to character, story, exposition, drama. Just FUCKING CLUELESS.
He made billions taking credit for other peoples talents (his wife, who did the editing on 'ANH', Lawrence Kasdan, Kirsch, Gary Kurtz, Rick McCallum, etc).
Yup, put me in the 'haters' column.

I've always thought McCallum was a spineless boot licker who didn't do his job in standing up and filtering out Georges more inane ideas and writing
But after reading that line I just want to kick him right in his fucking cunt. What a fucking brown nose...I hope he has all his money invested in Carnival Cruise Lines.

EARNED every bit of the vitriol he gets. In an unprecedented move he made a Saga that started with the fourth episode (slightly retconned since the Episode IV wasn't actually on STAR WARS until after THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK). So we weren't waiting for sequels that might happen, we were waiting for prequels that were pre-ordained. And we waited a LONG time, most of us were children for the OT and well into adulthood for the PT. And then they were monumentally disappointing! So the massive disappointment with the Prequels gained Lucas a lot of unhappy fans, but he also went back and altered the Original Trilogy.
Instead of making a Prequel Trilogy that was like the Original Trilogy.....
he made a shitty Prequel Trilogy and is slowly altering the Original Trilogy to be like the Prequels.
AND WON'T RELEASE THE UNALTERED ORIGINAL TRILOGY.
His actions have created a lot of irritated fans, and he deserves all the negativity he gets.

EARNED every bit of the vitriol he gets. In an unprecedented move he made a Saga that started with the fourth episode (slightly retconned since the Episode IV wasn't actually on STAR WARS until after THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK). So we weren't waiting for sequels that might happen, we were waiting for prequels that were pre-ordained. And we waited a LONG time, most of us were children for the OT and well into adulthood for the PT. And then they were monumentally disappointing! So the massive disappointment with the Prequels gained Lucas a lot of unhappy fans, but he also went back and altered the Original Trilogy.
Instead of making a Prequel Trilogy that was like the Original Trilogy.....
he made a shitty Prequel Trilogy and is slowly altering the Original Trilogy to be like the Prequels.
AND WON'T RELEASE THE UNALTERED ORIGINAL TRILOGY.
His actions have created a lot of irritated fans, and he deserves all the negativity he gets.

It was just charity work that geeks don't appreciate? Lucas and studio execs didn't profit billions from the endless shit loyal geeks bought to support the franchise? The studio and Lucas are not victims, they milked the geek masses for every penny for a product that got shittier and shittier.

Lucas is too easy to hate for his terrible treatment of his loyal fans. But I truly think he just doesn't have a clue. It's like a grandpa with Alzheimers who does crazy shit but you can't hate him for it...just mourn the tragedy of it all.

And yes some of the fanboy hate is way over the top. People who say ep1 is so bad funny out of the new bluray set thats the one I have been watching the most. But hey thats cool you can go from one to the other depending on your mood.And Yes I will be going to see the TPM 3d feb 10th.

most everyone on this site is a lifeless blood sucking turd whose total contribution to humanity as a whole doesn't amount to the lint on his left nut. You can bitch about his dialogue all you want, but the guy created and entertainment phenomena that arguably had a greater influence on a generation than anything else. And as disappointing as the plot of the prequels were, he at least added a kick ass Yoda fight and Natalie Portman's rock hard nipples to the Star Wars lexicon in his later years. You guys go on ripping him a new ass all you want; he'll be at home wiping his tush with $100 bills for the rest of his life and worrying not a shit about what you all have to say.

But yes, you ARE done. Seldom has a filmmaker drifted so radically from the initial passions of the early days of their career to the mediocre shit of these more recent times.
Listen , we all love Star Wars - but pissing and whining that it's the audience who've got the wrong idea is pathetic. You long ago lost all reasonable right to close yourself down.
Fear makes these movies a possibility. The results are a total jizz fest

I mean, the guy has personally removed hundreds -- if not thousands -- of dollars from the pocket of everyone in this talkback. That's quite a feat.
Any history of American cinema will mention him in the first chapter.
I miss the naive days in 1977 when I was a kid and it was possible to unreservedly admire Lucas for the magic of Star Wars, rather than dangle Jar-Jar Binks around his neck.

Lucas was at his best when Coppola was pushing him to come up with great films. Coppola has been making little nothing films for a while after making vacation paradises and wine. Lucas has a right to say "Fuck off." We crucified him for the prequels and all the while forgot he was still the reason for the originals which we all loved so much. We pissed on him so badly I don't blame him for saying it isn't worth it anymore. The other reason for Lucas being done is technology is about as far developed as possible. Lucas was always about pushing technology. Not a whole lot more to do to be honest. He'd rather enjoy his money, cars and children. I say thank you George for giving us Star Wars, whether or not we even liked the prequels, thanks at least for the originals! Happy retirement. Curious though about the dogfights in "Redtails," it was that kind of sense of speed that was missing in the prequels. Oh well, that ship has sailed.

If you actually analyse the initial concepts and first drafts, etc and then look at what Kurtz, de Palma, Ralph McQuarrie, Dystra, John Williams, English art department, etc contributed... it's blatantly obvious that Star Wars was a collaborative effort. Many of the early Lucas proposals for Star Wars sucked and were reigned in.
He's the luckiest man in Hollywood - became a billion on a modicum of talent. The more control he had, the worse his movies were. The more he relaxed his control, the better they were.

All he had to do was to keep making the unaltered original trilogy available.
That's it. That's all.
Do that, and all of the anger goes away. Poof.
The story implies that he feels similarly to the grumpy fan base as he did toward studios telling him what he could and couldn't do.
But the fans never told him what he couldn't do! All they ever wanted was to not have the films they fell in love with taken away in the process.
I have no love for either the prequels or revised OT. But I'd be happily celebrating them all if Lucas would just avoid hiding the OT from everyone.
I know they've always been "available" in one sense or another. I could watch it on VHS, or Laserdisc, or in the form of a crappy transfer on the extras portion of a DVD.
But we all know what I mean. If he really had any respect for the people who've made his fortune, he'd appoint a trusted team of people to maintain a clean, pristine version of the OT, unaltered, in the current media of the day. Other directors do this. It's very common in music (see the recent remasters from Jethro Tull and King Crimson, handled by a member of the band Porcupine Tree).
He could do this at a profit. The cost and time involved would be a pittance next to the steady revenue.
And he would be amazed to find that his popular support would skyrocket. So many more fans would be happily interested in where he was taking the story, because they wouldn't have to give away their own pasts to experience it.
There are always cynics. But Lucas seems to fundamentally misunderstand the reason for the reaction he's getting.

Ya know...I'm 43, and I can remember thinking Lando Calrissian was a suave motherfucker...and most kids today are the same fucking way.
Honestly, these days there is not much racial distinction when it comes to the choosing of hero's, the admiration of people, or the films we see.
Yet...George has some weird, almost 1950-60's vintage racial shit going on in his head...like his being astonished some 10yr old white kids come out of a movie about guys killing Nazi's in Fighter Planes wanting to be those guys...astonished because the kids were white and the hero's of the film black.
If you read that article you gotta admit it came of sounding strange...the screening back east for black movers and shakers sounded like an especially odd time...would have LOVED to be a fly on the wall for that ...
I HONESTLY think George is STUCK in 1960...

Especially Gary Kurtz and his ex-wife Marcia. Those two were all over American Graffiti and Star Wars...they were the filter that kept shit out...people with the power and balls to say NO and make it stick.
After he became distraught over the Adult Direction of Empire...,forced Kurtz out...and drove Marcia away...you got Nub Nub Ewoks, and Boba Fett becoming a bumbling fool.

Making something good is. Maybe art films are the way to go. Make something you're passionate about and make it with style and my butt will be in the seat.
But I will have snuck into the theater because I refuse to pay for anything you've made until you release the remastered non-special-edition OT.

Featuring Megan Fox's sexual exploits with Rick McCallum? I understand that it might not reach the levels of epicity of the Michael Bay exploits, but I'd like to read your go at it. I don't think there's ever been anyone else who has captured the literal essence of Megan Fox that you have achieved.
And please make her toe-like thumbs as orange and sexy as possible.
-a fan

It is only when Marcia Lucas left his cold ass that his view of women changed. From that moment on women in Lucas films were either Stupid like Willie Scott, Manipulative like Sorsha in Willow, or clueless cold and virginal like in the prequels.
Marcia destroyed this small, scared, naive little man when she walked...and his films have never been the same since.

AICN has made the board almost impossible to do that on these days...using quotation marks too often will get the entire post deleted...or at least entire lines erased.
If I get a moment later I'll give it a shot...see if it works..

I still view and revere George Lucas as a legend and a cinematic master. I loved the original Star Wars trilogy, loved the Indiana Jones films, Willow, and I even enjoyed Howard the Duck. On the flip side, I cannot deny my disdain for the Star Wars prequels and my frustration over certain aspects of the special editions. I wish I had been there in the film making process to offer a few suggestions here and there that perhaps could have made a difference but I'm just an animator and storyboard artist that still lacks sufficient experience to ever qualify.
At any rate, this is horrible news in one sense since we lose such a legend to the epic scale but on the other hand, I have been craving to see what Lucas has up his sleeve for art films. I guess overall I am just frustrated. I wish him the best and send him an enormous thank you for forging my life in the visual world. I am an artist and film lover because of that man.

Loved this part:
When fanboys wailed, Lucas did not just hear the scream of young Jedis; he heard something like the voice of the studio. The dumb, uncomprehending voice in his Socratic dialogues — a voice telling him how to make a blockbuster. “On the Internet, all those same guys that are complaining I made a change are completely changing the movie,” Lucas says, referring to fans who, like the dreaded studios, have done their own forcible re-edits. “I’m saying: ‘Fine. But my movie, with my name on it, that says I did it, needs to be the way I want it.’ ”
That's right folks, like it or not, THAT'S THE FUCKING TRUTH! You don't like it? FUCK YOU!! And let those who enjoyed them, well, ENJOY THEM in peace... Bashing on the MAN who created THAT world, that UNIVERSE like he was Uwe Boll is so fucked up is not even funny... some people need to get over themselves about the prequels.
The Star wars Saga is one of the most amazing things ever given to us mortals and you are so ungratefull that you killed the higher being that gave it to us...
FOR SHAME!!
George, you will always be THE FUCKING MAN in my book!
May The Force be with you...

Empire Strikes Back...:"Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”
Practical effects that made Puppet Yoda more real than flipping twirling CGI Yoda. Acting that actually worked, probably because Empires Direct was a emotionally mature man. No forced humor, hero's in defeat and our perception of the Star War universe as vast and mysterious reinforced.
Revenge of the Sith: ”Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo.”
Cgi so spotless and clean that seemed right out of a surgery room. A Yoda who traded soul for acrobatics, acting so flat and wooden Portman still doesn't talk about her involvement, a character that dies of "a Broken Heart", and the reduction of one of cinemas most dark and ruthless villains reduced to a whining, angst ridden, narcissistic lemming of a teenager...who is not so much menacing but rather annoying.

Fucking tightass. You gave Samuel Jackson his lightsabre prop, but none of the original cast were allowed to take anything as a souvenir. You're worse than NASA for sueing an astronaut hero for selling a notebook with his own handwriting in it.

His view of romance, and relationships is more than naive...it is retarded. In fact he is such a cold, distant, and emotionally screwed up guy Marcia walked out after Empire...left George for a fucking carpenter...because George is just a weird fucking dude with weird ideas about love.
I'm not sure that that isn't true till this day..I bet Mellody is the Dom in that relationship...probably Pegs George while trading Mutual Funds.

I never get the impression I'm listening to an intellectual when I hear Lucas speak. He comes across as repressed, awkward, superficial, slightly autistic and very conservative.
Carrie Fisher said as much in her shows.
Which is all fair enough... his personality is not his fault. But how hard is it to get a scriptwriter in? And director? He did it with Empire Strikes Back... which is universally praised.
He's the quintessential accidental billionaire. Through an amazing conjunction of improbable events and being in the right place at the right time, he became tremendously successful and the yes-men thought he was a genius. Because being a billionaire must mean you know what you're doing, right?

Oh wait, making fun of southern whites as NASCAR loving beer drinking hillbillies is perfectly okay. But say something like "latinos and blacks are far more racist than whites" and you get labeled a filthy evil racist. What, did this site turn into Badass Digest?

I know this post will get lost in the sea of hatred spewing forth from the asses of a thousand angry trolls, but I for one want to thank George Lucas for giving me my favourite movie ever and quite literally changing the course of my life.

Seriously?
Go to originaltrilogy.....dudes have painstakingly restored the OT.......all you need to do is STFU, go do some hunting and enjoy.
It's obviously not HD quality and no it's not in a shiny box stamped with a LFL logo.
Grow up and deal with it.
For Christs sakes move on.

I love Lucas. I think he's offered great films, he's done a lot with the business and technical aspects of film making that everyone profits from, and I think he's a nice guy.
The problem is that he was surrounded with yes men during the prequels. Sometimes you need someone to say, "Hey George, maybe you should shoot one more take where the kid isn't reading off a cue card." Or in my case, "Hey Cruizerdave, put down the knife."
The prequels had cool stuff in them, but they needed to have someone there that would give George an honest opinion. Instead of "oh, midichorians are how the force works, BRILLIANT" he needed someone to say, "Hey, George, this is like a religious thing to you fans, and it's kinda dumb to shoe horn this in. Plus we can cut another dry, time killing scene."
Frankly, I think his buddy Spielberg did him no favors by saying, "Wow, this is great! Whatever you do is great!" He should have said, "I know you were right when I told you this in 1977, but please listen to me. You need to cut 40 minutes out of this, and reshoot most of the acting. And get rid of that big eared thing."
Lucas simply hasn't had anyone who has the ability tell him "sorry, this sucks" for years and have him listen. Sure there's the talkbacks on AICN and the rest of the Internet, but most of those idiots talk about their dicks and bowel movements when discussing film. Why would he listen to them?
No one likes to admit they need others, or that they need ideas refined, or that after achieving a certain amount of success, that they need to still be on a leash. But it's true.

If he really takes some pimply-faced fanboy's bitching about the prequels seriously then he doesn't deserve to make any more movies. No art is above criticism, George. Poor you, you created something that is beloved the world over, whilst developing the technical innovations that now allow every filmmaker to create visions beyond their wildest dreams and has made you so filthy rich that you'll never relate to those of us having to live paycheck to paycheck just to get by and you now feel victimized because some Internet rabble dissed your precious prequels?
FUCK YOU!
If this means the end of Star Wars, then I'm fine with it.

Lucas needed someone to reign him in. The PT actually had tons of potential.
Those 3 movies are full of solid ideas, but the scripts needed some polish and rewrites, editing needed to be tighter, acting less stiff, things need to fit with the previously established OT not the other way around, and most of all yes men needed to go.
Anyway I don't hate TPM, I do dislike AOTC. & ROTS is solid.

Pft hahahhaha....My screen name? Yeah go ahead bash away retard, it took me all of 5 seconds to think up. Oooh my ego just can't take you (a moronic stranger) not liking it!
Also, good luck with that bizarre hate of "LOL" that's a first. Oooh I really take that personal. me and the other 900 billion people who randomly say it w/o giving a shit.
Is that honestly the best you have to throw at me because I hurt your pussy feelings?
Again, MAN up bitch.
Jesus I almost keeled over when I scrolled back and read your pathetic rant....
--All he had to do was to keep making the unaltered original trilogy available.
That's it. That's all.
Do that, and all of the anger goes away. Poof.
The story implies that he feels similarly to the grumpy fan base as he did toward studios telling him what he could and couldn't do.
But the fans never told him what he couldn't do! All they ever wanted was to not have the films they fell in love with taken away in the process.
I have no love for either the prequels or revised OT. But I'd be happily celebrating them all if Lucas would just avoid hiding the OT from everyone.
I know they've always been "available" in one sense or another. I could watch it on VHS, or Laserdisc, or in the form of a crappy transfer on the extras portion of a DVD.
But we all know what I mean. If he really had any respect for the people who've made his fortune, he'd appoint a trusted team of people to maintain a clean, pristine version of the OT, unaltered, in the current media of the day. Other directors do this. It's very common in music (see the recent remasters from Jethro Tull and King Crimson, handled by a member of the band Porcupine Tree).
He could do this at a profit. The cost and time involved would be a pittance next to the steady revenue.
And he would be amazed to find that his popular support would skyrocket. So many more fans would be happily interested in where he was taking the story, because they wouldn't have to give away their own pasts to experience it.
There are always cynics. But Lucas seems to fundamentally misunderstand the reason for the reaction he's getting.----
^^^^^^^ translation ^^^^^^^^^^
waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!

People who quote whole passages of Lucas dialogue verbatim in order to tear it apart always amuse me. You claim to hate something that you've heard enough times to memorize? Hmmmm. I can't remember a single line of inane dialogue from Transformers as I only saw it once after concluding it was shit. Maybe you don't hate the prequels as much as you think you do.
I'm no blind apologist. I liked the prequels but I fully admit the screenplays are half-baked in the dialogue department. There's also some dialogue I liked so I take the good with the bad. A few leaden lines shouldn't ruin your enjoyment of a movie. If that's the case for you, then you basically can't like any movie made before 1950.

Prequel defenders...please quote some memorable lines of dialog from those movies...and by memorable I don't mean memorable because the lines are laughably bad...
Take those 3 movies and separate them from Star Wars...if they were even passable, they should stand up on their own...where someone who had never seen or heard of Star Wars could watch them and enjoy them without knowing anything about the original trilogy...

Then we could have had Spielberg in his prime pick up the reins and complete the saga for his friend George and back then when SS could do no wrong we'd have had SW saga gold!
If its a trade off with 4 Indiana Jones films, a Howard the Duck flick and Willow for 7 SW films as good as The Empire Strikes Back, I'll gladly make that trade!

Lord, that old anti-prequel trope irritates me. The words "broken heart" are never spoken in the movie. Padme tells Anakin he's "breaking her heart" and then later Lamaze droid says "we can't explain why, but we're losing her." Personally I think the trauma of being pregnant, choked and then dropped like a rock probably did her in but at no time does anyone say "She died of a broken heart."

If you hate the PT or hate the SE's just ignore them like you ignore soap.
Again, just hunt down the restored OT online which fan editors have made or watch the OT on dvd, vhs or laser disc.
Not ideal.........but it's something for now.
I can bet Lucas will release the OT one day in HD.
People just have to be patient and try to go more than an hour without cursing Lucas' children or wishing death upon him like an obsessive fan-boy lunatic.
Life's too short.....If SW brings you that much misery maybe go take a walk or try another movie franchise that doesn't make you shit your pants in rage.
For the record I wish the OT was on blu-ray. It does deserve a proper release. At the same time I'm not about to curse Lucas over it.

Enough of this endless, tedious rehashing of Lucas. Put in OPEN RANGE and watch a brilliant filmmaker and actor at work - Kevin Costner. Marvel at one of Robert Duvall's finest performances. Witness one of the greatest westerns ever put on film. You'll remember why you fell in love with movies in the first place.

So, if George is not making anymore films, maybe other directors can make Episodes 7-9.
I think it's rather ironic that now the technology is here, after waiting so many years, he was unable to create the kind of Star Wars films that were made with Episodes 4-6.
We have to remember though, while he wrote the Star Wars films, he didn't direct all of them and to most, the best Star Wars film was not directed by him.
I think the idea for the alien premise of Indy 4 proves that George still has problems with coming up with good stories, in recent years...

If you watch the behind-the-scenes clips on the prequel DVD's, during the design meetings you can clearly get a sense that the people standing around Lucas with clipboards are very nervous, laughing over-enthusiastically at every small joke he makes, and politely agreeing with everything he does, such as ignoring a whole wall of excellent alien design drawings and drawing a red marker tick on the one goofiest, dumbest looking alien he can find.

and I got that vibe when I watched those docs too.
what are you gonna do. The damage is done. TPM is what it is.
The people who worked on those movies were caught between a rock and hard place. One one hand they likely worshiped the legendary Lucas and on the other hand he was their boss.

Heck with it, I'll always be disappointed with his prequel stories, but I hope his more personal works remind us of the reasons we loved his vision in the first place.
He's no longer beholden to any of us (not that he ever was). Lucas is free. He can write the stories he wants, rather than what the industry, and audiences, demand of him.

George Lucas basically sacrificed the prequel trilogy in the name of digital filmmaking. Shooting with the Cinealtas. On-set motion capture. Fully CGI characters. Digital backlot environments (overdone, yes).
Wooden dialogue and rushed plotting aside, Lucas didn't let anyone else direct the films because, and here's what sad (very sad), the stories weren't the point. Anyone who tried to make a legitimate story out of the prequels would have only interfered with George's true aim: ushering a new age of digital cinema.
The Star Wars films did this single-handedly. No Jar-Jar, no Gollum. No Sony F3 Cinealta, no James Cameron 3D rigs. You get the picture. The prequels are bad to the point that they make you question your own sense of taste and moral compass. Unless you look at them only as what they are: science experiments.
Granted, Lucas gave it his all on Episode III, which is still rated Fresh on RT and Metacritic (so take that, motherfuckers), going so far as to enlist Tom Stoppard on dialogue and Steven Spielberg on 2nd Unit. But by that point, Lucas had accomplished what he set out to do. Allow films to use a completely digital workflow.
So, now with effects technology have broken down all barriers (cloth, fur, hair, skin, water, fire, you name it) and possessing the ability to make ultra-realistic CGI planes or Iron man suits or whatever, George can make Red Tails or Koyaanqatsi 4 or whatever. It took tearing his Star Wars universe in two, literally, and alienating a major swath of fans, but now Lucas can do anything he wants.
Yeah, I'm pissed about the original trilogy's original versions being only available on VHS or as a bonus on the limited edition DVDs. I'm pissed that Lucas makes Vader moo at the two most important moments of his life. But whatever. Those movies are still a part of me. Watching the Special Edition in theaters with my family. Playing Super Star Wars on Saturday morning. Reading Tag & Bink, and the New Jedi Order trilogy. This is what we do.
So, either go see Red Tails, or Phantom 3D, or fucking not at all. It doesn't matter. The landscape has been changed forever. 48 frames per second, that's next. Feature films shot on iPhones and 5Ds. VFX of the same caliber on film, television and gaming. You have one man to thank for that. Okay, several. Several hundred in fact, but the point is Lucas played a big hand in that.
As for myself, I'm gonna go check out Red Tails. I'm anxious to see what a Lucasfilm production looks like without Indy or Jedi. Peace out, and stop hatin'. Jeez.

What sort of reception does he expect after peddling dross for years now? And perhaps in these days of financial insecurity that we live in, his shocking displays of wealth, indulgence and outright commercialism don't play so well.
Mr Lucas, perhaps it's best if you do walk away. You are not, or never will be remembered in the same league as the greats of cinema. Jesus, if you got your original vision of "Star Wars" on the screen we wouldn't be discussing you here and now.

Kirschner, Brackett, Kasdan, Kurtz, Marquand....and, if the rumors are to be believed, Francis Ford Coppola, they deserve most of the credit. Lucas's original scripts were a mess. It took the studios bearing down on him and his producers reigning him in to make the first movie good, and a good director and scriptwriters in the second two OT films to make them good. Given full-control, as he was in the prequels, we get terrible dialogue, boring and hole-ridden plots (proving that he can't write) and wooden acting, even out of some seriously good actors (proving he can't direct).

He's an old man now and horribly out of touch with modern audiences.
It's not that we grew up, it's that he grew down. Holing up in a Ranch with a bunch of adopted kids never end well, just ask Michael Jackson.
I'd love it more than anyone if the old George came back and proved us all wrong, but it isn't going to happen. We might as well face facts.

I got about halfway through it before I was too mad to continue.
Won't be seeing this flick BECAUSE Lucas was involved.
I love the part where he says that this movie, "had to have a black director", heavy-handed pandering much?

Mostly I just really hate and despise The Phantom Menace. Once reality set in and my standards were lowered I found Attack of the Clones somewhat acceptable and moderately entertaining. Then when the hype about Revenge of the Sith built up, as early reviews hailed it as a return to form, I let my hopes get up again, and it didn't disappoint me. I think it's a really good movie, but it wouldn't be nearly as good if the original trilogy didn't already exist. A lot of what made it great for me was sentimental. Of course that was Lucas' plan all along, so I guess I'd have to say that he succeeded. Partially.

How many of you apologists sticking up for George and his latest pouting temper tantrum are on his payroll? Be honest. And that includes his "fat, spoiled children".
I notice whenever there's a Lucas talkback, suddenly a gaggle of screennames I don't usually see pop up and extoll this guy's sainthood.

I don't normally post on Star Wars TB's even though their my favourite films. My reason for not normally doing so should be very clear after reading the first twenty or so posts of this one. No other films (and rightly so) illicite and inflame geek passions as much as Lucas' popcorn masterpiece. Is it his best film? A lot of Star Wars fans will admit to American Graffiti being that but Star Wars is what we love. Is Lucas above and beyond all critical reaction? Of course not and I'm positive he himself would be the first say so. There are elements to both the original trilogy and prequels I personally don't like but the sum of their parts make them greater than their whole in my opinion and makes them enjoyable. Critiquing a movie is one thing but when it moves into personal verbal attacks it becomes something else entirely. What is it about Lucas that makes seemingly ordinary people become such foul-mouthed, disrespectful, bitter and twisted morons? Why do the same people who might call 'Kings Of New York' a personally disappointing creative misfire on the part of Martin Scorsese will then in the same breath accuse a man they've never met, George Lucas, of being a turkey-necked cunt who likes to fuck childhood???!! What gives you the right to be so personally objectionable to a man who many of his peers, those people who have ACTUALLY met and worked with him, consider one of the most important and influential independent film makers of his generation. If the general premise of the story is true, if Lucas is pulling back from personally making films because of studio reaction and even vitriolic name calling by the so called fans of his work, it's a sad day for film making. Look at his filmography, remove the Star Wars stuff. Look at the list again. It's shorter, there are the creative misfires sure, but there are gems that would never had been made without George Lucas such as American Graffiti, Kagemusha, Body Heat, Mishima, Labyrinth, Tucker, Willow and of course Raiders of the Lost Ark. So looking at all that perhaps maybe, just maybe you might feel a bit of an idiot insulting a filmmaker responsible for all that quality because you didn't like the Ewoks. I doubt you will of course. But the tonnage of disrespect you might hold for Lucas is as nothing of the contempt I hold of your opinions when your unable to formulate them in a way that doesn't fall back to vitriolic name calling especially as the most creative thing the vast majority of you have proberbly made in your life is a sandwich.

Doesn't matter to me that the prequels didn't meet my expectations; the man is responsible for my favourite film and a huge portion of my childhood memories.
Good luck to him with whatever he does in the future.

Yeah, right........I reckon you're "proberbly" missing something. A lot of people have a wider appreciation of film in general, and can see the bigger picture regarding Lucas in comparison to a century of film that went before him.
He aint no Hitchcock, and at this point of time seems to be fated to be remembered chiefly as someone who milked a franchise dry to the point of embarrassment.
Had you read the article you'd learn that it's "Hollywood" itself that's now turned on Lucas. He's paying for the prints??? Now that's just cringeworthy to hear. When Adam Sandler can make movie after movie, Lucas has to deliver the prints to the theaters himself! Sort of destroys your notion that he's still held in esteem by his "peers"

The fact of the matter is: George Lucas wrote a brilliant story comprising the prequels -- a cunning, manipulative politician/dark lord in disguise using an impotent bureaucracy to manipulate a war into being, and further manipulate both sides into participating in his design to become all-powerful.
That is a wonderful story in its own right and is timeless in its relevance to all epochs in human developmental history (including our own).
It's on the one hand, a story about the rise to power and on the other hand it’s about the fall of innocence in the pursuit of power in the mini-story of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. That 'mini-story' if you will, represents the inevitable choices we must all make, when journeying throughout life and being confronted with temptation after temptation (a Faustian tale, so to speak).
It is, in effect, both through the stories of Palpatine and Anakin and eventually Luke, a story about POWER. Palpatine is its manifestation, its machination, Anakin is its succumbing to it and Luke is its conquering its seduction.
The Star Wars, is first and foremost a study about Power.
And while this is all well and good, the original trilogy was by and large also a solid screenplay and well directed. The prequel trilogy was essentially a wonderful story gone nowhere.
It was drowned by Lucas’ obsession with advancing special effects technologies, his prioritizing of the business side of the production rather than its artistic component, and his inability to properly allocate the necessary work to the valuable contributing artists.
So what went wrong?
People say what ruined the prequels were Jar Jar, or Hayden, or the Kid, or midichlorians, or this or that. This is not true. I do not think midichlorians were such a bad idea; however, Lucas failed to utilize this idea to its proper potential.
There is nothing inherently wrong with attempting to allow science and religion to co-exist harmoniously (this is what midichlorians represent: a pseudo-scientific explanation of the religious), but this idea was not taken far enough and nothing was done with it. Midichlorians were shoehorned one final time in Episode III, to enrich Palpatine’s description of the Legend of Darth Plagueis. That was it. In Episode I, it was not used wisely or sparingly, and instead was meant to provide some numerical picture in the audience, as to why this ‘kid’ is special. This is a poor story telling technique, and once again, poor writing.
All of this can be summarized and boiled down to this: Extremely poor, sloppy, writing.
It’s the screenplay. The screenplay is absolutely atrocious, and Lucas’ direction is not even bad. I would rate Lucas’ directing skills as solid, but his writing of the prequels was a god-awful, shitty, rushed mess, and it undermines everything.
Jar Jar or midichlorians is not what ruined Star Wars. The problem is, these elements did not advance the story (which is poor writing).
Darth Vader’s story should not have taken over the entire story. It should have been used to support the larger and more all-encompassing arc of the emperor’s rise to power. Vader’s over-significant presence in the films, was a result of poor writing at the script level of production, although the story of Vader was quite brilliant.
I do not wish to get into any further details. However, it is obvious that Lucas does not adequately understand his own strengths and limitations (for whatever reasons they may be).
Lucas is a brilliant ideas man. However, his ideas need to be properly constrained in the context of a coherent, well-structured screenplay, where the story is allowed to evolve and take organic shape. If Lucas is let loose and wild and out-of-control, then you get the Prequel trilogy, which has all manner of greatness and rubbish, all thrown into the same saucepan.
Perhaps this is why many people seem confused about the Prequel Trilogy. They are torn between some great ideas and some atrocious scenes/dialogue/concepts. These confused individuals fail to recognize that the Prequel Trilogy is simply a mish-mash of Lucas brilliance and Lucas stupidity.
A proper, well-verse screenwriter could have easily tamed Lucas’ wild concepts and provided a means for them to competently serve the story, instead of the story serving his abrupt concepts (which is what occurred).
I have written this piece neither to condemn, nor to alienate, nor to unduly praise.
If we are all interested in great films, then we should ask Lucas to perhaps re-consider his plans and hire (a) proper screenwriter(s). Perhaps 1 or 2 screenwriters, with at least an academy award nomination under their belts. I am not saying that an academy award nomination (or win) implies one can write a good screenplay for star wars – what I am saying is, this should be the beginning step of looking for somebody competent to write a new Star Wars trilogy or perhaps even re-write the prequel trilogy.
As I have said before, Lucas is a brilliant ideas man. Ideas that hover in the sky, where some are great and some are useless in the context of a cinematic medium. A smart and competent screenwriter would know how to utilize tangible concepts in a focused, dramatic, emotional narrative, which Lucas obviously cannot do (and there’s nothing wrong with that – he should not be denigrated because of this.)
I am not necessarily against his directing skills, although the Prequel Trilogy also left quite a bit to be desired in terms of pure direction. However, he is not a screenwriter, and this is what destroyed any prospect for the prequel trilogy becoming brilliant (better than the OT) and was instead left to languish in its seemingly permanent status as perhaps the most loathed trilogy of all time.

Because I read the same piece as you and what I was getting was a lot of respect from his film making peers and getting hassles from various studios who don't seem to know how to market a movie a movie he's plugging and unwilling to commit to it. I'm fine with that. The last time that happened we got Star Wars.

I just really, really did not like the prequels or Indy 4. And some (*some*) of the changes to the original trilogy were unnecessary and changed the story too much.
I feel that he should have passed the directing duties to someone else for the prequels and somebody should have pointed out the stilted dialogue, emotionless acting and out-of-continuity ideas (such as midichlorians) to the guy.
The prequels could have been as great as the original trilogy, instead they felt like a completely different universe.

3D prequels, 3D original trilogy - hopefully after that he's finished ruining everyone's fav' space opera! - More old Indy scripts, more stoopid star wars cartoons.
Lucas is going to still be haunting us with his delusions of what we want for a few years to come.

I love to come on here and listen to all the expert filmmakers trying to point out where George Lucas went wrong. Can't wait for him to finally show us his personal art films. As for the rest of you, you can stick with JJ Abrams Star Trek films, with Simon Pegg running around a brewery with an alien monkey.

The fucker help to put Geek Culture on the map thanks in part to his SW Franchise and innovate collaboration with other talents within the Movie industry. Yeah, he's wrong for over pimpin what made him famous in the first place, but fuck if there are those who are willing to buy his licensed products or see his re-hashed special edition 3D movies, then he's doing his job which is making Mo' Money.
Oh, and KOTC should have NEVER been made in the first place. That withstanding, he's a pioneer and without him there probably wouldn't be a Cameron.
Show some fucking respect you ingrates.

Obviously TPM especially thanks to Jar Jar Binks The stephin fetchet of Sci Fi.
But the old fucker is making up for it with Red Tails and pledged a shitload of money for the MLK Memorial.
Egro, he gets a pass.
Yeah, I was no fan of the prequels but I did like ROTS so fucking sue me.

by the way, people trying to push significant intellectual motivations and deep meanings into Star Wars are just pushing things too much into this side of ridiculous. funy enough, the SW movies that did have some atoms of thematic ambition were the much derised prequels. Fancy that!

This man is clinically addicted to ruining his reputation, and he's clearly demonstrated that his just as happy ruining his previous accomplishments as he is making new atrocities. This means we can look forward to the 'Star Wars: Perfect Editions' in a few years where a CGI creature comically eating a smaller creature and then belching is inserted into the foreground of every scene in the film, as per his 'original vision'. Also, the epic Wookie battle will finally be implemented into A New Hope as he originally planned, improving on a classic. He always felt Empire was a little too dark, so to lighten it a bit for the kids, a new hilarious CGI character will be seamlessly integrated into ESB who will add much needed levity via observational jokes and puns, followed up by his trademark slide whistle. And when he re-tools the prequel trilogy to add the stuff he didn't have time for, we'll finally get to see how Anakin built the Millennium Falcon and how Mace Windu is Lando's dad.

I know it's terrible, despicable, unworthy and completely classless to say something so insidiously repulsive. But I can't wait until George becomes "one with the force". Once he does, this franchise is going to reclaim it's title as the king of all cinema!
I can't wait until the best writers, directors, and producers are finally hired and allowed to make the Stawars film we've all been waiting to see for 25 years.

What did he do? He got his last 300 bucks and went to Europe, to show it at Cannes. He had NOTHING left afterwards. Nothing. And he managed to do THX, American Graffitti and Star Wars from SCRATCH, with ZERO support, without American Zoetrope, without studio support, having a nervous breakdown, almost starving to get his movies done.
Now he's a pompous lazy fat fuck. If you leave, DON'T YOU EVER FUCKING COME BACK.

even if he had never made SW, i would still know his nname because i love THX 1138 so much. it's one of my favorite movies.
rowing agasint the geek current, i'm one of those few who do not call themselves a Sw fa. i enjoy the movies, but they are hardly the end of cinema that the geekry makes them out to be. i both am thankful and resentful of the influnce that SW brough to SF and cinema in general. SW has been both a blessing and a curse to SF and cinema. It has influenced both for good and for ill. i can't ignore both of those influences.
but i'm not a fan of SW. i'm even wary of SW by now. i'm growing tired of the fandom it gets, of the blind devotion it gets, of the adoration it gets, of it being trated as the pinacle of cinema, when there are better movies and better SF out there deserving of far more respect.
George Lucas for me is the guy who made THX 1138. and for that i thank him. if he's going to make more movies like that from encefoward, and if he still has that in him (like Coppola seems to have with his newest low budget movies), i can't wait!

That's what i think is a part of all the, particularly Star Wars, hate.
The Prequel films are pretty good, more flawed than the originals but also of a much bigger scope which is more rewarding that way also.
Fanboys pretty much got stuck in time with all the merchandising bought which cemented Star Wars to that audience very strongly to a particular time and place. The prequels as much as any thing else, un-time framed the original trilogy & thus 'ruined' Star Wars for a particular segment (note: blu-rays showed there is another)
I would have liked sequels to the classic trilogy, i don't think the story of the galaxy and republic, jedi/sith is a complete circle but alias. A more ghostly themed set of fantasy sequels would have been fun.
But the movie business is complicated, more than it was when original films were made, is one of the big problems of the present i'd guess.

in the late 60s Lucas invented this van that was in essence a mobille film crew unit. It was staked with everything that there needed to shoot a movie, reduced to it's minimal components. it alowed filmmakers to make movies guerrilla style, on the move, on the spot, on the quick. Coppolla himself used Lucas' invention in his earlier low budget moviies before THE GODFATHER, and is resuing it again for his recent low budget movies he has been making since YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH.
i think Lucas could do a low budget movie. the real issue is if he's truly willing. but he has his buddy Coppolla proving it's possible, and that old age is not stopping creativity.

at a time when the galaxy was still a collection of individual systems. but a time where this idea of a unification of all the racs of the galaxy under one universal government, and how there was support and opposition to the idea.
also, how the idea of unification was tried by two different philosophies: one a a peaceful confederation of independent systems, andthe other as a military conquest empire. and those two divergent ideas gave rise to the birth of the jedi and the siths, and their great epic battle for the fate of the unified galaxy.
basically, the story of the birth and clash of both the jedi and the sith, how they come to be, who were their predecessors, and how they come to be, and how they clashed and become immortal enemies. the adventures of young yoda, anybody? youg yoda as one of the first jedi and his companions of the time, his first comrads of arms and how they build the jedi. pretty shakespearean stuff, really.

...in 1980 I walked out of the cinema a very disappointed 12-year old. It wasn't the film I wanted to see. I wanted a self-contained story, not a soap-opera. The guy could have gone on to make Apocalypse Now were he a truly committed film-maker a la Lean/Spielberg.
Having said that I sincerely hope that Red Tails is one helluva ride and that if it is to be George's swansong he does it with aplomb.

He pulls it off, admit it. :-)
Seriously, you young fanboys really piss me off. The man moved mountains with his films. A LOT of movie directors and producers lose it over time. It's when their passion turns to their business. STFU already. We should appreciate him, not drive him to retirement. George, I sincerely thank you.

Star Trek is just him warming up. JJ Abrams awaits his destiny, to lord over SW, as he so desires. can't wait to see the day Abrams finally makes a real official SW movie. Instead of playing pretends as he is doing now.

To get a little psychological here, and others have mentioned it, I bet dollars to doughnuts that if the prequels were more consistently well-received, or if there wasn't that faction that went nutso negative about them, we would have the original versions of the OT available now.
I'm not suggesting it's anyone's FAULT, just that Lucas on some level is holding back as a kind of "fuck you".

I think you're right in a way. And the original plan as I understand it was to do it the way your 12 year old self wanted.
The idea of Vader being the father was at once a terrific one and the thing that kind of ruined the franchise. I mean think of the screen time that precedes that revelation vs the subsequent screen time ... the two hours or so before is amazing; the eight after, not so much.

There are no words for how terrible some of you and the writing outrageous shit on the internet is so 90s. If anyone is outdated its the posters on this board. Actually, you are all delusional. You wrote on a message board while this guy has given you some of the greatest stories ever told on cinema or ever. Sad, little hateful people is what the internet is. It makes me wish SOPA would pass, just to watch some of you burn.

Is ignoring that he put up 58 million dollars of his own cash to tell a story he believes is culturally important, but has little chance of earning out. I have seen VERY few people ever take a stand like that. He has been misguided in some of his creative choices, perhaps. But driven by money? "Red Tails" is a passion project if ever I've heard of one. Criticize him all you want, but try being honest for a change.

forgive him for what he did to LucasArts.
He stopped producing excellent adventure games and focused solely on making crappy SW videogames.He refused to give the rights of the classic series like Monkey Island,Sam n Max and Full Throttle to the original creators so that they could make their own games, until recently.
If it wasnt for Bioware and their excellent Old Republic universe,the SW videogame franchise would have been dead as well.
FUCK THE BASTARD.

Lucas is putting up his money were his mouth is to tell a story which he thinks should be told on the big screen and to hell if it doesn't make it's money back. That takes some balls guys. You've got to give him some respect for that.

He has made it clear in several interviews that he did not make the prequels for the aging fans of the OT. He made them for kids.
Now he's saying he is no longer making films because the fans, the same fans he claims to not care about, don't like his films.
It sounds like a cop-out to me. One of the greatest visionaries in modern cinema is going to let bitchy, 30-something fans drive him out?
I smell a rat.
Oh well. He's not going anywhere, anyway. Bet on it.

... so George is upset that people got mad with him over the prequels? Well, if he'd maybe listened to anyone around him and not surrounded himself with yes men (see the behind the scenes sequences on the prequel DVDs) he may not have ruined all the original films for the generation that first saw them.
Plinkett summed it all up for me and I've been done with SW for a while. Indy 4 sailed dangerously close to doing the same for those films. Luckily all he's been able to fuck with so far on the original Indy trilogy is the title of Raiders on the boxes.... Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark... for goodness sake...

probably tired of short story requests, but this subject is SO fucking perfect for parody.
I'm thinking something along the lines of George locking the Lucasfilm gates on Dec. 20th 2012
and announcing that -The Orgy- has begun.
Maybe written in the style of The Masque of the Red Death? :D

Boring, complex political intrigue, boring romance, limbs flying everywhere dead kids and a guy getting burned alive. Just because he threw in a goofy CGI character here and there hardly makes them kids films.

it's just that the concept of what was a movie for kids was a bit different back in the day when the original trilogy first saw the light of the day. they could get away with things that today's parents, the same people who saw those made for kids movies in the late 70s/early 80s, would nowdays get into a fit of self-rightousness outrageousness if they saw their kids watching them or like them. "somebody think of the children" type crap.

...and the first Indiana Jones. But Spielberg deserves the lion's share of credit for that. Fact is his stories since then have sucked big time. Maybe his retiring will mean he will stop fucking with his good OLD movies.

Youth Without Youth and Tetero (don't know what ever happened to the one with Val Kilmer playing a low rent horror author), so I'd welcome Lucas doing small films in that vein. The current Lucas problem is that he is too wrapped up in effects that he can't come up with a coherant story. Maybe if he goes off and does something that is strictly told through visuals and no dialogue, he might make another good film.

Let's just be clear, here: Lucas made one fairly successful film (AMERICAN GRAFFITI) and exactly ONE "blockbuster" (the original '77 STAR WARS). He put up the money for his other alleged "blockbusters" (EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, JEDI, the INDIANA JONES movies), and while the prequel trilogy made bank, only (ulp!) THE PHANTOM MENACE was a breakout hit the year of its release (ATTACK OF THE CLONES got its ass handed to it by a small art film known as SPIDER-MAN, and Peter Jackson whomped on REVENGE OF THE SITH with RETURN OF THE KING). In fact, if anybody remembers, George "I Just Want To Make Artistically Satisfying Films" Lucas actually forced Fox to make theater owners tally up the exact ticket sales for THE PHANTOM MENACE because he wanted to beat Cameron's TITANIC as the number one grossing film of all time (spoiler: not even close).

because the same people who complain are changing his films. The only "fan" edits of the original Star Wars films I am aware of are the ones to make it more like the original, just with the fixed up FX of the special/DVD editions. Now the Phantom Menace has had numerous fan edits, but that and all of the prequels are the ones that Lucas probably needs to go back to and re-edit, but he chooses not to (other than CGI Yoda in Phantom Menace).

Why is everyone all of a sudden saying that the Prequel movies were good? They are not "flawed, but overall good movies". Not even in the slightest. Just because George Lucas' feelings got hurt because everyone said they were crap is not grounds for suddenly saying they're good. If he's listening so hard to public criticism, why can we not get a version of Return of the Jedi on DVD that doesn't have Hayden Christensen in it? Why can't we get the original Yub-Yub song back? Why was "Nooooooo" added to a movie that used actual acting to show the inner conflict of a man wearing an emotionless mask? Remember the excitement you felt when you first saw the trailer for TPM? Remember the disappointment you felt when you first saw the movie of TPM? He thought he could crap of celluloid and we'd all applaud and instead, we told him that even though we love Star Wars, we love a good movie even more. His failure to deliver is on him; turning back around and saying that we were wrong because now he's retiring is the same as being on the set of any of the Prequels and agreeing that yeah, this should be in the movie. Star Wars raised most of us, taught us that being "the good guy" doesn't always mean that you have to be altruistic, and it deserves more from us than this sudden pandering to its mad creator.

I disagree. I do agree that an argument can be made that would show calculations made with an eye toward the merchandising and children's toy market of all but IV, remember that the original draft was the arcing storyline that encompassed Star Wars through Jedi. Lucas was forced to break his draft into three stories in order to bring them to the big screen. I don't believe it was original envisioned for kids.
The prequels, though...I cannot defend on any facet of their existence other than, possibly, the visual clarity. Reading above that Lucas felt personally hurt because of the fan reaction, all I could think was...GOOD. He should feel, if not hurt, remorseful. He had himself surrounded by yes-men that dared not question his control of the canon and he proceeded to make hamburger out of potential filet mignon.
Years ago, when Episode One came out, I remarked to my wife, a sort-of fan, that the best we could hope for at this point is to wait for him to die, leave the rights to his heirs, and have them allow remakes. This is the next best thing. If he's done making big movies (which I also doubt), maybe he will let someone handle the paint brush for a while.

Hasn't this story been done before at least twice? A better question...in every single look at a historic black American first, be it debate teams, athletics, military units, or giant fucking storms bearing down on small fishing boats, there's always that idiot, stereotypical white guy that hates the valiant black guy simply for being black. We've seen it over and over and over again. Has Lucas figured out how to avoid this crutch?
Doubtful.

He just needs to have people to tell him what the shit ideas are.
This was ALWAYS the case. The original Star Wars drafts contain a mixture of brilliance and lunacy, and the lunacy gradually got whittled out.
He just stopped having people point out the garbage.

The original Star Wars films helped shape the collective imagination of an entire generation with Star Wars. Sure, they appealed to young and old alike, but it arguably had the largest impact on fans that discovered those films as kids. It was lightning in a bottle. Impossible to duplicate. Lucas’ buddy Coppola even half-jokingly suggested that he turn it into a religion. You can’t understate how huge Star Wars was from 77-83.
When Lucas set out to make the prequels, he clearly wanted to bring that sense of magic to a new generation. It was never about the old fans. Being a smart business man, Lucas knew you had to hook them while they were young. He laid the groundwork by sprucing up the OT new scenes, FX and at least one notorious edit. While old fans bemoaned the alterations, kids thought it was great. And why not? They had no frame of reference. In their eyes, the films were just better and more modern. Some of them had probably never even seen the original versions before. And if they had, the films certainly did not have a strong cultural influence on them. The most diehard fans of the OT were not yet having children of their own, and the children they did have were certainly too young to be indoctrinated.
When Phantom Menace was released in 99, Lucas’ plan seemed to have worked. Kids went nuts over Ani, the pod race, Darth Maul, Jar Jar. They ate it up. Parents bought the toys and Happy Meals. The balance to the Force was restored.
I was working at a Barnes and Noble that summer of 99. The Star Wars merch sold well enough for a few weeks (mostly to adults thinking these would be collectibles- HA), but by July the kids and their parents were requesting something else: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Since Sorcerer’s Stone was released in the US the year before, it had been slowly building an enormous fan base and curiosity seekers. But Azkaban was when Potter broke through the stratosphere. It took the series from bestsellers to genuine cultural phenomenon. I was there in 98 when we’d get two or three copies of Stone and they’d sit on the shelves for a few weeks. It was a very slow build.
So my point isn’t to compare the stories or merits of Star Wars and Harry Potter (apples and oranges, but the whole Hero’s Quest trope makes them more similar than dissimilar). I’m not even defending the quality of the HP movies (they got better) or how they will stand the test of time.
I’m just saying that for a generation, Harry Potter WAS Star Wars. Not some disposable pop culture that the kids will look back on with nostalgia as adults, but a series that they have grown up with, that they will cherish for the rest of their lives, and will introduce their kids to. Basically, everything Star Wars was for my generation.
The midnight book releases with lines out of the door. The dressing up as characters. THAT is what Coppola was talking about. That kind of fervor.
By exploring every corner of the Star Wars universe with books, cartoons, merch, etc, it could be argued that Lucas has thinned the mythos, not expanded it. When it comes time for children to put away childish things, the Clone Wars toys will get stored in the attic or sold on Ebay.
Harry Potter, on the other hand, will live on forever for a generation.

Like great bands, everyone peaks. Take The Rolling Stones for example...no one cares about their new music but everyone loves to see/hear them perform the great hits. When "Sympathy for the Devil" comes on the radio I turn it up. When "A New Hope" is on the TV, I watch (even if only for a little bit sometimes) and love it.
Thanks for "the cake" George, and fuck the haters

Yes, he did. Except that, from THE PHANTOM MENACE onward, he's become the poster child for why there SHOULD be a studio system. Lest we forget, the original STAR WARS was bankrolled by Fox, not by Lucas, and it was only the combined doggery of Fox, editor du jour Marcia Lucas, Gary Kurtz, Brian de Palma, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Matthew Robbins and God knows who else that kept the film from making THE PHANTOM MENACE look like GONE WITH THE WIND by comparison. No wonder he wants to keep changing the original trilogy around -- his mountain-sized ego can't accept the fact that the first three movies worked because better filmmakers "helped" make them that way.

Now we can actually get decent Star Wars if/when someone else gets to do it.
Thanks for creating it George, but the best thing you could do is retire, enjoy life and let other, more talented people do the franchise credit.

Has always been that he's an illiterate moron. He cherry picks stuff here and there but doesn't know how to construct a good story. In comparison the Harry Potter movies benefited from their literary sources as well as the smart and sensible people who made them. The books are far from perfect but David Heyman, the Producer, knew what he was doing for the post part and hired intelligent collaborators who improved on the novels IMHO.
I'll also restate that I absolutely LOVE Azkaban, Goblet, Order and HBP and think they are just as good as Star Wars and Empire but in their own way. And as I said, that's FOUR great movies compared to only the two that Lucas made. But it didn't have to be that way. You saw what could be done with Star Wars when other people got involved and made Empire which is rightfully considered the best of the series. But Lucas hates Empire because he's a resentful asswipe. This is why he clamped down on Jedi and refused to let anyone else get near the Prequels.

Let's be honest, for the most part, the people that hate on Lucas are Star Wars fan boys that want to relive the glory days of their youth and were pissed when the prequels didn't do that for them.
Lucas has said since Ep 1 that he wasn't making these films for the 30 year old nerd living in their parent's basement (I'm paraphrasing but that's pretty much his point). He made it for kids and, frankly, kids love the prequels and the originals and the cartoons. All of those millions of dollars of toys sold mean something (and a fair amount of those toys were bought by hypocritical 30 year old fan boys...lol).
Lucas, IMO you've earned retirement. I'll miss you and your fun films but I honestly agree 100% with your reasoning.

I agree. I think for kids from 1999-2010, Harry Potter was to them what Star Wars was for kids from 1977-1985, a preaty big deal. Now I feel that Star Wars with this Clone Wars cartoon has gone from being this epic myth for a whole generation, to this generations Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Pokemon. It's nothing more than a cartoon with a toyline to kids now.

when you consider the massive contribution that George Lucas has made in the area of cinema technology in effects sound and animation. There would be no films like avatar if it wasnt for Lucas's pioneering work. where is harry review for the artist? or did he walk out of that one too like inception. or fall asleep. that film has received scant attention from this site at all. i wonder why?

Lucas has been saying this same bullshit for ages. AGES!!!! Yet, somehow, he never gets around to making these small, supposedly experimental films. What's stopping him? He has the money, he has the clout. So, go do it already.
Oh and, of course, it's the fans who are horrible people, again. Yeah, the fans who dared complain that the prequels were sub-par. How dare they! How dare they call him on his bullshit. Yeah, those horrible fans. Those people who, no matter how much Lucas shits in their faces by adding ridiculous garbage to the original trilogy, still support him and his wasted franchise. Fuck off, already.
Just shut up and make your "small films" and stop fucking using that as some kind of a threat. Does he think we're all going to fall on our collective asses if he stops making big budget Star Wars movies?
Ugh. I really hate this guy these days. What an insufferable prick.

The hate makes perfect sense.
You're at a restaurant, the chef brings you a steak. You take a few bites and realize it is the single greatest steak you've ever had, or ever will. The chef is so pleased that you like it, so much sothat he stands on the table, pulls down his pants and takes a steaming shit on the steak.
The log doesn't cover the entire steak, and you could conceivably eat around the log, but you can't deny the steak was shat upon.
Why did the chef do it? To take something that was perfection and shit on it? Who knows, and frankly you don't care why, or that the chef had given you the steak in the first place, only that the fucking fool shit on your steak.

Interesting point about Harry Potter living on forever for the new generation, over what the prequels mean to them. You're absolutely right, but the reason is because Harry Potter had genuine heart and emotion -- and freshness -- whereas the prequels were, yes, video game cut-scenes, and not even great video-game cut-scenes. Gears of War 2, for example, had a pretty amazing cut-scene (the one where Dom finds his wife tortured and mutilated and has to shoot her to put her out of her misery).

i'm sure my comment is pointless now this far down in the section, but i honestly don't understand the rage.
this guy gave us so much, even if you only include the first 3 star wars and indy films. why not just be happy with that rather than sling insults because you haven't liked his latter works. watch something else, and move on.

Then issue a statement that reads: none of the events in the prequel trilogy actually happened. It was a fever dream had by gweedo's cousin. Starwars will now be taken in an entirely new direction by my friend James Cameron here. I have signed over all rights to the Starwars property to him.

George Lucas saved my childhood and for that I thank him.
Being a child of the 1970's, almost everything was geared to adults. The music. The fashion. And a lot of the movies. It was all disco crap and horrible bell bottoms and wide collars. Being a kid in 70's sucked. I'm sorry it mostly did.
But, then came Star Wars. And at 10 years old, it was the most amazing thing I'd ever witnessed.
From then on, we played Star Wars, dreamed Star Wars and filled our lives with Star Wars things. It spawned a myriad of new sci-fi and fantasy. It made kids love movies and many youngster want to be in movies or make them.
Later, he created Indiana Jones when I was in high school and I was a kid all over again.
I can't thank you enough, George.
Then, something happened.
DVD's, Re-releases, enhancements, edits, re-tellings...
My childhood memories ripped out and changed. The prequels were next, upsetting the balance and ruining back stories and the timeline... and filling in the holes of my imagination with far less worthy material than my own brain had conjured when first hearing of The Clone Wars, the fall of the Jedi and the Old Republic.
So, George Lucas re-edited my childhood. And for that, I don't think I can forgive him.

I fucking hope so. At least with writing and directing. I think he is completely out of touch. He's fucking ruined his own brilliant work with all the tinkering he's done. He won't get a dime of my money at the theaters anymore. Not a dime. Retire from writing and directing George. It's time. Save a small piece of your reputation in movie history.

Mr. Lucas made three perfect (well, almost perfect) Star Wars films THEN he had to go back and FUCK with them.
I saw an episode of "60 Minutes" featuring the artist Thomas Kinkade. They followed him as he went to one of his OWN exhibits and began "correcting" one of his pieces.
That's what Lucas is. The film equivalent of Thomas Fucking Kinkade.

but I refuse to give him any more of my money.
Until he releases the remastered OT theatrical versions, which should have been included in the recently released box set, like every other movie box set that has ever existed.
You can't call something "Complete" without those.

EXACTLY: He has enough cash and influence to release ALL "versions" of Star Wars on bluray. James Cameron demanded that if his smurf movie made X amount of box office money, then the studio couldn't put trailers on the DVDs nor Blurays.
And you know what? He got his wish.
Lucas has more resources to do what he wants. The sad is this: he doesn't WANT TO.
You think he cares about the fans that have made him a BILLIONAIRE? LOL.

How else do you interpret his comment:
-Rick McCallum, who has been producing Lucas’s films for more than 20 years. “He will have completed his task as a man and a filmmaker.” -
Completed his TASK AS A MAN??? McCallum - what a hack.

Fuck he says this shit every fucking time. Fuck you George. If you really wanted to go back to small films you would have done it eons ago. Heck even Nolan does a passion flick in between his block busters. You're full of shit and you've lost any talent you had and even the little you had is questionable.

I'll be suprised if one of these 'experimental' films comes out before the live action star wars tv series.
And if he really cared about the fans feelings towards him he would have put out the OT in its unmollested form, that would have one him a bit of respect.

Listen people, I think everyone acknowledges Lucas did huge and amazing things for cinema. He also made some mistakes so huge that forgiving him for them isn't possible without action on his part.
People loved the original Star Wars trilogy, and also the original Indiana Jones trilogy, and heck, I still love Willow. His contributions to sound and visual effects technology were amazing. But Lucas has always done his best work when someone keeps his ego in check, and he hasn't had that in a long time. So he crapped all over the original Star Wars trilogy not just by releasing prequels that broke its continuity, but by actually changing the originals in significant ways and then making sure the true originals would never be available again. It's not just a matter of making bad work, it's pulling his good work off the shelf in a huff.
Why all the hate? Because he wrecked a lot of people's childhoods by damaging his original work, and those who would be inclined to forgive him if he released the remastered originals don't have the option. I'm sure a lot of people out there share this sentiment:
George, we're grateful for your early work and what you did for movies in the first 15 years or so of your career, with the exception of Howard the Duck. If you want to spend the rest of your life tinkering with things and making films the rest of us can't in good conscience consider canon, then we can't stop you and we wish you well in your self-imposed exile. But taking the original movies we loved and never letting us see them again, that's crossing a line. Your films touched people, and taking away that piece of cultural treasure is a crime against your audiences, the people who cheered you on when you were nothing. We never asked for any more than a good story--something that, if experience has taught you anything, you can't deliver all on your own. You need smart people around you who will tell you no, and you need the structure of constraint, because you thrive in that environment. But just give us the happy memories, George, and then you can slide quietly into oblivion if that's your choice.

...by producing, being creative consultant and have sign off on major properties..." but not actually direct/write anything so if badly received "hey I did not directly make!" or if well received "all my idea in the first place and i oversaw. I don't hate Lucas- just think that the SW prequels are a mixed bag and KOTKS flawed. He directs action very well, is great with imagery but his scriptwriting is haphazard and in his later years his fondness for politics hampers his ideas that are based in boy hood fantasy. An interesting film maker nonetheless who has directed and made some seminal films- THX 118, Star Wars and Empire Strikes back, Raiders.

I kind of agree about the 'I am your father' thing. While it did steer the trilogy in a more meaningful direction and character arc, I kind of ruined Vader for me.
Prior to seeing Empire, Vader scared the living shit out of me. I liked not knowing what he was. He was an avatar of pure menace. The moment they gave him humanity, that menace went away.

I've seen a pattern for years among Talk-Backers who believe that any historical story told from a non-white perspective is about "White Guilt." Not only is this an intellectually lazy argument, it's also very arrogant. For the past 20 years alone, we've had World War II movies such as:
"Saving Private Ryan," "The Thin Red Line," "Pearl Harbor," "Stalingrad," "Flags of Our Fathers," "Inglorious Bastards," "Valkyrie," "Band of Brothers" (although a mini-series), "The Pacific" (again another mini-series), and "Enemy at the Gate."
In the past 20 years before Red Tails, what alternatives were there of getting a major motion picture in theaters showing the African American perspective of World War II? Well there was a made for TV film called "The Tuskegee Airmen." It was shown on television in 1995.
Then there was Spike Lee's film "Miracle at St. Anna" from 2008. It was largely dismissed on this site.
That was it for the past 20 years if you wanted to see Blacks play an active roll in World War II. Nothing else. George Lucas wanted to take a story from military history, from American history, and produce a film about it. No one wanted to finance it because of its large black cast. This is specifically what Lucas was told. Blacks weren't marketable. And then before the actual film was even seen by most of you, there are those who will dismiss George Lucas for having "White Guilt." A comment that will dismiss those who would like to give a tiny bit of credit where credit is due.
But what's even more disheartening are those who will say, "Well wasn't this movie made already? Isn't that enough for the Blacks?"
If we made one and only one Pacific engagement film about World War II, will that only be enough? No "Pacific" mini-series because "The Thin Red Line" and "Flags of Our Fathers" was already made? How many Holocaust movies has there been in the last 20 years? Is only one enough? Should "The Piano Player" have not been made because "Schindler's List" and "Life is Beautiful" were made already?
Look, if you're gonna dismiss this film because the acting is horrific, or you have a hard-on for hating George Lucas, well I can't change that. But don't dismiss the movie because it's filled with people who don't share your skin color.

Yes Star wars is his creation yet it doesn't mean that we HAVE to like what he's conjured up with the prequels.
The definitive draft for episode 4 is re-written by Gloria Katz. If any of you try and track down the earlier drafts written by Lucas or better yet watch the starwars auditions from back then you could see that it that Lucas can't take all the credits for the work. Remember also that even though Lucas came up with the stories but Empire and ROTJ were put in a screenplay by mostly Lawrence Kasdan.
Kershner wasn't a great director at least if you look at his track record. But where Kershner succeeds is taking the time and actually care about the story and characters, was willing to improvise and open for suggestions from the actors if it made the scene better as opposed to Lucas who thinks the only thing he has to do is say walk here, say this and it's there. Anyone can say they have a great screenplay but it takes a great director to "translate" the screenplay to film.
Somebody mentioned Jim Cameron and his 3D development yet i would put forward this: CGI, 3D is and always be a TOOL for telling a story. It is not the story on it's own. Today's technology is tomorrows trash. It's the story that matters the most. I'm interested in Camerons work with 3D if he's also interested to put forward an interesting story and characters (no Avatar) otherwise he feels like a George Lucas clone. In love with special effects and thinks that's all that matters for the movie goer.
Lucas wants to go back to the low budget movies but is he capable on his own to really engage us with these movies? In his earlier movies he was backed with talented people and he was willing to listen criticism.
The originals (esp ANH and ESB ) were kids movies but when they were released it seemed to speak out to all kinds of movie goers. It never felt "age specific". You could be 7 or 77 and still enjoy the movies. That all changed with ROTJ. After the build up from ANH, peaked with ESB but ROTj felt a giant step back and it wasn't only because we saw the horror that were the ewoks.
That line continued with Prequels. In other words they really became kiddie movies. Movies that almost scream "buy this products, action figures now in store near you. Nothing to do with telling good stories.
Some people say that the Star wars movies, read Prequels didn't change but we grew up. Sure nostalgia has a lot to do with how we
both view Originals and prequels. But what makes the originals exciting, watchable and Prequels despite the fx and more budget dull and uninspiring.
Lucas does indeed not understand what makes his movies tick. But moreover he has little to no self reflection of what his strengths and weaknesses. If he's build a billion empire, retire build an old folks home (get it) but don't go play a victim and say that the fans are the villains in this story. And so i conclude my opinion with which i started. Sure a director should make the movies he/she wants but you should not look surprised if people not feel the same excitement for their "masterwork" as the director.

I'll repeat what I mentioned earlier.....I wish the OT was on blu-ray too. It does deserve a proper release.
Again, I suggest you just hunt down the restored OT online which fan editors have made or watch the OT on dvd, vhs or laser disc.
Not ideal.........but it's something for now.
I can bet Lucas will release the OT one day in HD.
People just have to be patient.

The people who make that charge are the last ones who would ever feel a moment's compassion. You don't have to feel guilt to want fair play for others, but anger and fear attempt to paint every such effort with a negative brush. Everyone complaining that "The Tuskeegee Airman" story was told in a television movie, and therefore doesn't need to be seen onscreen, is someone who said "meh" to the story the first time. If that had been a unique telling of one of THEIR stories that had been neglected on the big screen? Hell, they'd be like "Star Trek" fans: "well, sure it's been on Television. But put it on the big screen where everything is more exciting, bigger, better!" THAT is the natural human reaction if you enjoy the idea of a story. Otherwise...if you are uncomfortable about it being told, you obsess about a 15-year old TV movie, and pretend that is what you are objecting about.
##
People can dislike any film for a variety of reasons, but when Lucas slyly suggested "Hollywood" wouldn't make "Red Tails" he carefully buried the lead: they believe this after careful evaluation of box office receipts over the last decades. There is always anger and fear about change, and attitudes and reader comments about movies like "Red Tails" reveal them pretty clearly.

Fight for that Starwars name to shine again! Collaboration. That is your salvation. Find names that will inspire respect and let it be known that George Lucas is collaborating with people in an effort to expand the Starwars universe and take it into the next generation and beyond. Concurrent with production on a new series of films you are to build The Starwars Galaxy Themepark in Orlando Fl. Do as UltraTron commands and you will be the man you want to be again.

All of this happened because you did not listen to UltraTron as is well documented over the years on this site. If you had joined me. Together we could have ruled the galaxy- but (nooooooooooooooooo)- you had to go you're own way.
UltraTron's original offer to Lucas in early 90s:
Let me be your right hand. I will ensure that the Star Wars name will forever instill respect and awe in viewers from around the world. I will filter every idea you have through my impeccable vision which has served the industry so well. I will ensure that every casting and story decision engages on the highest emotional level. I will weigh carefully -all that has come before in every incarnation of Starwars from comics and the Timothy Zahn novels to the Lucasarts/ Bioware videogame incarnations. I will help you design and build the Starwars Galaxy themepark concurrent with the production of the prequel trilogy(sequel trilogy- I would never have allowed the mystery of such characters to be dispelled.)

...that he bothered to make them in the first place. It was always going to be hard to make the continuity make sense, and trying to throw in a nod to every little thing in the OT just made it worse. If anything, he should have just ignored a lot of things from OT, broken continuity even worse, and made something that stood on it's own. Sure, this probably would have infuriated people even worse, or at least differently, but it would've opened up the narrative possibilities.
Having said that, if Lucas was going to do the prequels the way he did, he could have made one minor change and vastly improved the whole endevour: make Anakin's age in TPM roughly the same as Padme's. This gets you several things: 1. You get rid of both Lloyd and Christensen 2. You get rid of some creepiness 3. You can just have some more interesting things going on with a slightly older character. You would have barely had to change the story at all and you make it a lot better.

Those Lucasarts games from the early to mid 90's might be GL's greatest unsung legacy: Loom, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, X-Wing/Tie Fighter, Full Throttle, Monkey Island, The Dig, Afterlife, Fate of Atlantis, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and many more—all of them creative, unique, interesting and occasionally funny (Sam & Max is funnier than any Simpsons episode or movie comedy I've ever seen). I'd love to see Lucas bring LucasArts back to it's former glory. Although these days all anybody seems to want are sports games and 1st person shooters. Sad.

I tend to agree as do many others. Then we'd pick up somewhere around the time of aotc.
Basically the period the clone wars covers and maybe a little after would have been interesting to cover in the movies.

for the millionaire gobshite who keeps fucking over fans with endless re-releases and eye bleedingly shitty films.
There's a reason studios don't want to market his new film, he's shit.
HE feels hurt? Well so do the ex-fans of Star Wars.

George has always been at his best when he has limited resources. If he is going to be working on "smaller budget" projects then I am definitely going to look forward to it. Maybe he will use costumes and blow up models again. That would kick ass.

because thats what most people want and georgie porgie doesnt do what people want.he does the clone wars.one of the original ideas for indy 4 was indy vs.escaped and cloned nazis' in brazil(indiana jones and the boys from brazil)we got indiana jones and shitty labeef vs galdriel and e.t.
all thanks to porkins.fuck you lucas and good riddiance.

I actaully wouldn't mind seeing the film again in 3D if it was re-edited. Of course, I highly doubt that will be the case. I am curious if there was ever any cut scenes with Darth Maul that didn't make it into the film. Hell, cut out of the crappy scenes out of the film (take your pick) and replace it with Maul killing some more jedis in a lightsaber fight, and I'd be happy... lol...

I've read stuff on here, personal remarks, about him and his family. Made for no better reason than people are'nt getting what they want, that have made me fucking cringe, thinking that not only he might be reading it, but anyone who's not got dogshit between their ears is reading it.
Now its not everyone, not by a long shot, some of these talkbacks are funny as fuck, "Australopithecus: the Ape that shagged me" (in the Planet of the Apes talkback) is one of the singularly funniest things i've read on the internet.
I dont think its got anything to do with him "retiring" , but if i'd read that about my daughter on the internet, i'd be looking to crack some fuckers skull with a house brick.

That "excuse" is really REALLY lame people... Lucas did not "rape" or "destroyed" nobody's chilhood, are you crazy? That's got to be the most stupid meme in the history of the internet.
I mean, damn! How can a ovie do that to your childhood? you are fucking ADULTS (or at least I want to believe that) no amount of rege against the man who gave us so much (unjustifiable rage, IMHO) can or will ever be enough to "ruin" a childhood... taht's just moronic.
I love, LOVE the whole Star Wars saga, I don't care if people hate it, because thankfully, my world does not turn with the opinions of others, someone said that the best creative thing most of the people here will ever do creatively was a sandwich... I have to agree with that... is so easy to talk trash about something, but it takes balls, brains and will to CREATE something... that's just the way it is.
I know I will be bashed for this, and again, I don't care about any of you, really... but I had to say my piece to increase that samll percentage of posts trying to placate the cattel, I mean, people riding on the bandwagon of "Lucasbashing" just because the supossedly cool kids are donig it since 1997.
George, again, thank you for giving me the best childhood ever and for everythi9ng else you have done (specially for CREATING Indy) I'm looking forward to seeing RED TAILS.
To the rest of you, sheeps: FUCK YOU VERY MUCH!
Bash away if you want, I will not give you any more of my time. I'm out.

Totally serious. As a DVD extra (like what they are doing with the Marvel films), I think it would be great if Lucas made a short Darth Maul film that took place either during 'The Phantom Menace', or a short film set just before the events of that movie. Would be easy for him to do if he is making a Star Wars TV series. Have it be about Maul on a mission for Palpatine, and have him slaying some Jedi to show just how much of a threat he is. That would make a great DVD extra, and would certainly help sell a few more Phantom Menace DVDs. Then do a short Boba Fett film when the Original trilogy is re-released in 3D on DVD.

Judging from some of the comments on here, and after everything he's done for the film industry and independent film, he's get's this kind of anger or criticism...why bother? I think anyone would think about walking away and pursuing a more enjoyable line of work.

Just a cool short film with him on a mission or something. As for a Jar Jar short film, that would be cool. George could show that Jar Jar was created from all the retarded midiclorians that were left in the afterbirth of an aborted Gungun.

When I told Lucas that Spielberg had accepted the blame for nuking the fridge, he looked stunned. “It’s not true,” he said. “He’s trying to protect me.”
In fact, it was Spielberg who “didn’t believe” the scene. In response to Spielberg’s fears, Lucas put together a whole nuking-the-fridge dossier. It was about six inches thick, he indicated with his hands. Lucas said that if the refrigerator were lead-lined, and if Indy didn’t break his neck when the fridge crashed to earth, and if he were able to get the door open, he could, in fact, survive. “The odds of surviving that refrigerator — from a lot of scientists — are about 50-50,” Lucas said.

...the Directors's Cut of the Sequel, the Movie, the Prequel, the DVD Box Set, the Blue-Ray of each one, the Blue-Ray Box Set, the Director's Cut Blue-Ray Box Set, the Japanese Import Blue Ray Box Set, the illegal Original dvd cut, the 3D version of each cut, the book, the art book, the 1.2 millions limited edition mugs, t-shirts, etc..the Red Wings cartoon Series, Red wings the Video Game, the Limited Edition Video Game with the Black Mat plane version..
....George.Direct.A.Good.Movie;
Listen.To.People.Who.Have.Talent (You had talent one day, people listened to you, do it for them)
Come back with a masterpiece, or die in oblivion.
Enough. Said.

The vitriol and hatred spewed here doesn't make sense at all. OK, you don't like the prequels. Does that justify the hatred and bile unleashed here? It's disproportionate and just plain wrong. If I saw all this shit written about me based solely on not liking my movies, I'd probably be alot more upset that Lucas is....

Did this ever get anywhere as a meme? I remember the event and that the F-16's were redtails, and that it very curiously coincided with Lucas' having started production, but it kinda died out.
Do you suppose the last shot of this movie is going to be two redtailed F-16's escorting the first half-black president over New York?
How much in campaign contribution do you think that set Lucas back, if true?

Any source you look at, from receipts to viewer rankings on imdb or boxofficemojo or rottentomatoes, shows that the majority of people who saw them at least thought they were OK. Compare that to the 95% of the people here that absolutely HATED them. Like there's no in between. I, for one, thought they were flawed movies and if he handed over the stories to better screenwriters or directors, they could have lived up to their potential. But to just dismiss them ALL as shit with no redeeming value is very unfair. There was alot to like about the movies. And although Plinkett's take were great and his first one was more entertaining than The Phantom Menace itself, I still think the movies were entertaining to me and most of the audience and I'm glad they were made...

His big ego served him for the first three films, ruined him for the second three. He surrounded himself with "yes" men and made mediocre crap. This seems obvious but he's also not the first guy to do it, more like the millionth.
I love Star Wars
Greedo will never shoot first in any universe I live in
Deal with it, George

I like them singy and sexy. Not causey. They're so cute when they're all singy with the little singy body language. Nothing worse than when they get some idea in their head and gotta go on and on about it. I like when the women stay singy, sexy, funny, etc. Not gripey..
Oh sorry my brain filter was shut off. What are we talking about? Oh yeah George Lucas. What a fucking asshole that guy turned out to be.

When Episode I opened many years back people discussed what they loved about the movie:
- The pod race sequence
- RD-D2's introduction
- Darth Maul
- The lightsaber duel
And so on. It was exciting. Star Wars had returned.
And fans returned for a second helping of Episode I. Not just once but as many as three or four times. They rushed out when the VHS was released, complained that there was no DVD edition, bought the new line of toys, eagerly anticipated the next film and debated what we might see in Episode II.
But an odd thing happened along the way. These very same fans started getting off on discussing everything that they hated about Episode I and would continue to bitch endlessly about everything that they hated about the prequels.
[And, if memory serves, at least one AICN staff writer lost his shit and after seeing the new Clone Wars series premiere in theaters and then went on to whine about being treated poorly by Lucasfilm -- boo-hoo.]
Eps I - III are part of an entirely separate trilogy and SHOULD have a different tone, look and feel. This was to be expected and had they been too similar to the original films fans would have been complaining that Lucas was repeating himself. Lucas doesn't and Episode III is arguably as strong as any of the original trilogy (and is considerably better than Return of the Jedi).
George Lucas' impact on the industry as a whole cannot be measured. I suspect he has a few more projects up his sleeve and I for one hope we all get to see them.

...some obscure science fiction stories (ala THX 1138) or a few more war stories using limited blue screen.
As a black man, I am excited about RED TAILS. My great grandfather attended Tuskegee and knew a couple of the pilots.
I would also like for someone to make a major studio film about the Scottsboro Boys. It is such a tragic story and I find it difficult to believe that the story hasn't been told effectively on the big screen yet.

...some obscure science fiction stories (ala THX 1138) or a few more war stories using limited blue screen.
As a black man, I am excited about RED TAILS. My great grandfather attended Tuskegee and knew a couple of the pilots.
I would also like for someone to make a major studio film about the Scottsboro Boys. It is such a tragic story and I find it difficult to believe that the story hasn't been told effectively on the big screen yet.

They are ALL full of innocence, naivete, cornball wisecracks, broad characterizations, archetypes, and optimism. This includes beloved fanboy favorites like American Graffiti, Empire and Raiders of the Lost Ark. If it's not your thing that's fine but it's not some new development either.

So yea, maybe it is time for him to get out of the picture. I mean, they are going to be re-releasing the films for the next 50 years, guaranteed... when a new format comes along.
Unless he was trying to exit on a good note, then no, he probably failed like his last movies were.
Let some other creative people take the helm of star wars. Lets see the rest of the universe, and instead of the pretty places lets explore the seedy underbelly of the places.

...and the prequels would have been GOLDEN.
IMHO, the only problems with the films were:
1. Bad actors who played Anakin
2. Jar Jar potty humor
3. Lack of a Han Solo type of character
If these things were fixed, then the prequels would have been 100x better! The stories themselves were pretty good anyway, even with those issues.

If he dies, either his children (one's daughter is a failed MMA fighter and the other is a talentless Twitter whore, don't know about his son) or some yes-man like McCallum will inherit the franchise.
That would be BAD.
Well, WILL be bad. I suppose it's inevitable.
Let's dispense with this fantasy that things will get better when George shuffles off his mortal goiter.

..as a TRUE Star Wars movie. Which it is. In fact I think it is as close to George Lucas' original vision than ANY of the OT. The problem is that starting with the Phantom Menace and THEN Clones made everyone dismiss them pretty quick and expect not so good films (or at least nowwhere near the originals) but REVENGE OF THE SITH is waaaaaay darker than Empire, has just as good a script as Empire (yeah just think of Wedge's delivery of "Whao! That gottim!") and way more happens in Sith than any other Star Wars film. So out of 6 films we have 2 that are questionable. that is a pretty decent score. What other franchises or series or films have a straight home run? Not many at all. Certainly none with 6 goddamn parts to it. Go do some research - it is fucking difficult to tell a story that is engaging for that many films. And with such a long break in between yeah he wasn't on the ball. But Revenge of the Sith is my favourite Star wars film out of all 6 and for good reason. It is fucking incredible. Don't like it? You're not really a Star wars fan. And that's cool I aint gonna hold it against you. But to say the Prequels are shite? Bullshit. You're generalising and you're a moron. And as for ruining Star Wars? Well, the holiday special, ewoks movies and droids cartoons were way before the prequels. And now we are past the prequels. I watch clone wars and play the old repuiblic which are fucking incredible also. George can shit in a cup and give it to me for lunch. No amount of bad acting and mediocre performances can ever, EVER make me slag of the man who gave me so much and made my childhood so happy.

I find it surprising that after digesting all six films how they ebb and flow in my mind as far as my enjoyment of them. Phantom Menace was just ok to me when I first saw it, but has since grown on me. Attack of the Clones I loved the first few times, now I mostly like it just for a few scenes. As far as I'm concerned the only really consistently great of the franchise are episodes III-V. Phantom, Clones, and ROTJ are all about the same level for me.
If Lucas wants to retire, I wish him well. Personally I love most everything he's done, and as he stated it is all HIS. If anyone can come up with as rich of a universe as Star Wars, they are welcome to try. The fact that so many people are still willing to play in that galaxy (through books, games, comics, art, etc.) is a testament to its genius.
My only hope is that he releases the reigns of Star Wars to those who it has influenced so we can see it on the big screen again. Whether it be a one off or another series, or even a motion capture feature (similar to the style of Tin Tin). Star Wars belongs on the big screen, and I personally love revisiting the films when they are re-released and am looking forward to sharing them with my son for the first time.

Yes, that was the plan circa 1980 or so, but that had changed even by the time Jedi came out in 1983.
Even when hyping the upcoming Phantom Menace in 1999, George said flat out that the prequel trilogy would be the final Star Wars films.
So this scapegoating of "haters" being the reason he's not doing them is total bullshit. Anyone who believes that line is in an idiot and the alleged journalist that wrote this fluff piece should have called him on it.

Just wanted to again float my great idea of bringing Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher back together for a special Star Wars remake of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf," but with a boozing Leia and Solo going at it after years of marriage. A young Wookie couple comes to dinner, and all hell breaks lose. No special effects, just shoot it on a black stage like Manderlay. Prestige, Oscars....

that says way more about you than it does jedi. 1 is a shitty kids film. 1 is a shitty mess of a movie. 1 is a fun, well crafted adventure with a lot of heart. If you don't see the difference..well...it's a shame.

Phantom is a shitty kids film, Clones is a mess of a movie with some fun stuff at the end, ROTJ is a rubbish Muppet-fest at the start and gets worse... until we're forced to watch Ewoks save the galaxy!

Sorry, George, we dont mean to hurt you, but you delivered some subpar stories into your beloved Star Wars Universe and the ripples went far and wide. Unless this new SW show and Indy 5 rock us back into love with him, his legacy will not be a good one.

I've got to say I enjoy GL films. I'm entertained by them. Not all of them are fine works of art, but I'm entertained. My uncle saw Red Tails about a week or two ago; he was a Tuskeegee airman, so he was invited to a screening of it. He said that he really enjoyed it, that is was a bit over the top, of course, but he really liked it. The Tuskeegee Airmen cable movie, he didn't really like. Plus, it sort of made problems for him as well as other Tuskeegee men that are still alive (my uncle is 86 and was the youngest of those who actually fought).
I realize it's not up to the filmmakers to do this, but it would be nice to put little "for more information" bumps at the end for people to note. When these movies come out, you've got all kinds of men who come out of the woodwork claiming to have been among the airmen, and then their families ask for things (living airmen to appear at funerals, official copies of the Congressional Gold Medal, etc). When the living airmen inform the families that their grandfather, uncle, second cousin, whomever wasn't one, they yell at the old guys like my uncle. It would just be a nice gesture to use some of the money they make off these movies to link real information to the actual men and prevent this kind of stress to the men who are their subject matter. Wishful thinking, I know, but it would be nice. It's a sore subject for me.
Anyway, the movie is supposed to be good. Entertaining.

that he changes the movies most people would prefer he leave alone, and WON'T change the ones that could use it!
The Phantom Edit vastly improved Episode I. Episode II looks like SHIT and needs an overall facelift. Not to mention the Phantom Edit of that is an improvement as well.
No you can't swap out shitty Natalie Portman for Oscar Winner Natalie Portman, but you can at least make it look as good as Episode III.

I was originally going to skip this thread as I knew it was going to be full of the stupid, usual douche-bag comments. I was more than right scrolling through here, only it was more sickening than the usual geek jag offs.
I hope Lucas takes a breather and gets the hell away from everything just so the miserable nerds can find a new villain. The slings and arrows the man takes are repulsive on every level.
The indignant bromides taken in regards to the original trilogy not being officially released on DVD is laughable and tiresome. I have the laser rips on DVD and they look and sound fine. Go find them and shut your gobs!
This small, very small faction thinks they are doing everyone a favor by screaming like a baby when no one cares for so many reasons, the biggest being ten minutes between all three movies amounts to not a fucking thing. It DOES NOT change anything, not the story, not the characters- nothing. Greedo shooting does not change Solo’s MO. An unnecessary change for sure, but in way does it alter anything for the worse. If any of you believe this, you are dumber than Rachel Maddow’s hair do.
As for the prequel haters- a matter of taste? How does that work with something subjective like art? I hate The Sopranos, does it now mean it sucks for everyone? What does it mean that I hate Lord of the Cock Rings? Hmmm? I think we know what that means. It means the ones saying it are trying to justify their illogical rage, stupid bitter resentment, misplaced disappointment and overall asshole behavior to someone who’s brought two generations of fun and inspiration. It’s very revealing from losers who’ve not lived up to their familial expectations or had their dreams shattered for whatever the reason. They hate life, they hate their shitty, slave-wage jobs, and they hate anyone not hating life with them.
Sucks to be them in every single way.
So your boring childhoods were raped….boo fucking who. You were never fans to begin with…
Get some maturity and learn to let go. If you don’t like something, leave it alone and move on like adults. To continue to post anonymously about how someone needs to die for not making a movie to your stringent likes is all kinds of pathetic, disgusting and sad and just shows you know nothing about Star Wars. Your over-the-top generalization proves that.
The movies aren’t perfect, but they are tons of fun, if you are actually a fan and know not to take things too seriously since all of your dumb complaints were leveled at the original trilogy, Empire included…nothing new there kiddos. I love all six films, I don’t care who knows it and I know the reasons why I love it. I don’t jump on band wagons or do things ‘cause shit is cool. There is no why. I just do.
Keep going, George! Don’t let the crybaby bastard brigade get you down!
http://www.lardbiscuit.com/lard/shroud0.html

Let me be clear: I don't think it's possible to measure the good Lucas has done for the industry - I'm not a hater! And there's no denying the impact he's had on imaginitive filmmaking, but that's where it stops.
I personally feel that the harm he's done outweighs the good. He's made it ok to make shitty films on huge budgets. That alone is a detrimental impact on the film industry as a whole. As long as filmmakers believe it's true (that "cool" is more important than a good story, acting, etc), we will forever be in this stagnant state.
Lucas should never, ever have made the prequels alone. And, for all intents and purposes, that's exactly what he did. He needs to realize he's the nucleus - the idea guy, but he's not a filmmaker (not a good one anyway). And... guess what? There's NOTHING wrong with that!
The problem is he won't admit it to himself. He needs to come to terms that he is an AMAZING idea guy, but needs to leave the filmmaking to people who have skill in that area. There's no shame in that. The far worse crime is surrounding yourself with people who only say Yes to you. You can't improve and refine your idea that way. It takes a team with varying skillsets. Lucas, sadly, has never understood this.
So, Mr. Lucas, I would say this to you:
I'm sorry to hear so many people have attacked you personally over your films. It's not cool. But, on the other hand, you did this to yourself by thinking you could do *everything* alone. Wrong. Even the BEST filmmakers in the world can't do that. You need to rely on a team and not just assume you can do it all. I've said it since 1999. If you'd quit assuming you can take on the entire project yourself, the prequels (and all your modern films) would most likely be fantastic. Best example: Force Unleashed. It's Lucas-Approved, but a very talented team handled the bulk of the duties. That's how the prequels should've been handled.

Right.
Ever been to Hollywood? Yeah, Lucas is responsible for all of it. Every last red cent.
Will these know-it-all fake asses ever wake up from their delusional dream that they are some how part of the film industry because they post on AICN? Hilarious.

Yeah, I know the industry is bigger than Lucas... Not an idiot.
But Lucas is probably the most influential, well-known filmmaker involved. Of course, he's not the only one, but of all the filmmakers out there, he's got the highest profile for doing this kind of thing. So, yes, he did have a huge hand in making it ok.
It may have alreay been happening, but once someone of his stature puts his stamp of approvbl on it, it makes it that much easier to fall back on. Which as a film enthusiast, I don't think helps the situation at all.
And, obviously, I don't think Lucas is actually going to read my post. But, per the article, he's reading a good enough amount of them to have it affect his career. So...
But yeah, it's pretty easy to just label everyone a delusional retard when you don't read things in the context which they were written in. But if it makes you feel better to belittle me on the interwebs, so be it. You are way better than me, and I am, as you said, a delusional fake-ass.
Hope that helps you feel better about yourself.

I think that is partly why the prequels had a harder time finding their cultural foothold beyond just making a ton of money.
Also, beyond Harry Potter, we had The Lord of the Rings and Matrix trilogies hitting right around that same time (1999-2003). Both of those took away a lot of the luster of the Star Wars prequels after the disappointment of The Phantom Menance. LOTR was altogether just much better and had, if not more realistic effects, their effects were more interesting and artistic than the clinical digital stuff that we got with the prequels.
With the Matrix films, while the two sequels were disappointing to most, they still brought in people to the theater, and the hype for Reloaded rivaled that of The Phantom Menace. Also, the fictional world and effects and overall spectacle was just much better and bigger in both Matrix sequels than that of the prequels.
Also, we hadn't seen stuff like The Matrix done onscreen in a big budget way like that up until that time. Same with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Sure we had some good fantasy flicks in the past like Legend and Excallibur, but neither of those hit big and became part of the zeitgeist. The two big fantasy films that opened the floodgates were Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring.
So back in the early 2000's, we had three new big sci-fi/fantasy franchises full of spectacle, plus the rise of the superhero films that the SW prequels had to compete against. It is kind of surprising that they did as well as they did at the box office with all that extra competition, something that the original trilogy didn't have back in the late 70's to early 80's.

He probably lost a bit of box office due to The Sixth Sense, The Mummy, and The Matrix all hitting the same summer of 1999 when The Phantom Menace was released. Just think that if even two of those others hadn't been in the same summer, how much more TPM would have made. With all the hype, Lucas might have reached Titanic levels, or possibly beaten that record.
The Harry Potter films had a break between the first two and Prisoner of Azkabahn (2002-2004).
Lucas took about three years to make each of the prequels separately, while Lord of the Rings and The Matrix franchises shot all their stuff back to back.
He sorta double-lucked out by the fact that he avoided both The Matrix Reloaded and The Two Towers not coming out the same year (Two Towers was 2002, same as Attack of the Clones, while Reloaded was summer of 2003). Although, Lucas had to deal with Spiderman in the summer of 2002, as well as his buddy Spielberg's Minority Report, all the same summer that Attack of the Clones came out in.
Then both LOTR and Matrix were done in 2003, when both trilogies concluded with Revolutions in November, and Return of the King in December.
He then avoided Spiderman 2, which came out a year before Revenge of the Sith.
So it doesn't surprise me that Attack of the Clones didn't do as well as the other two prequels. TPM had a lot of competition in 1999 but did well mainly due to the massive Star Wars hype building for a couple decades, while AOTC had a shitload of big movies to go up against in 2002. ROTS didn't have much in 2005, as the other big anticipated movie, Peter Jackson's King Kong remake, was not out until December while Sith was in the summer.
I'd say Lucas lucked out pretty well by not really having to go head to head in the summer with any really big movies besides maybe Spiderman and Minority Report, as well as the summer of 1999 which was unusually good.
Now just think if Cameron and Ridley Scott had decided to go back to the Alien franchise around this time (they were mulling it until the AvP shit happened and turned them away)? Let's say this new epic Alien film direct by Sir Ridley and written and produced by Cameron had been released in competition with ROTS in 2005?
Or what if Cameron had done Terminator 3 instead of going on his IMAX documentary adventures? What if something like a Cameron directed T3 had come out against one of the prequels, or if the Lord of the Rings films and Matrix sequels had all hit in some of the same summers as the prequels?

...you know I'm right. Star Wars would have been better had it been three self-contained stories much like Indiana Jones. I'm not saying TESB doesn't work - it does - but as a true film buff with over 5000+ works of cinema art in my collection I would rather Lucas gad stuck to making the individual works of brilliance that were his first three movies. Sorry, but imo his talent was wasted on the Star Wars/Indiana Jones franchises. It's just one bloke's opinion and means fuck all.

I'd say that while stuff like Blade and X-Men started kicking open the doors for superhero flicks, Spiderman 1 & 2 really opened the floodgates.
And before some talkbackers chime in with Batman, we have to remember that at this time old Bats was complete guano because of what that bat-shit crazy dude Schumacher and his nipple-obsessions did to that classic character on movie screens around the world.
Superman was pretty much dead in cinematic terms at this time too. He was destroyed by Richard Pryor and Golan-Globus in the 1980's.

He also couldn't get studio funding for Red Tails because of its all-black cast (which begs the question, why didn't he fund it himself with his kazillions?).
So AICN, do some fucking research please. Read this article:
http://bit.ly/z8J2Mk
http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/star-wars-lucas-quits-blockbusters-over-allblack-movie-snub-20120119-1q7js.html

I refuse to believe that at this time in our country a film with a majority non white cast can't perform well is asinine. The real reason that the white demographic don't have a lot of interest in films with a mostly non white cast is due to studios and not people. Either a good film is marketed poorly or the film is a typical racial stereotypical mess of a movie that the mainstream doesn't get. Then the studios blame it on race.

. . . he divorced Marcia Griffin (the editor of the original Star Wars films), fought with Irvin Kershner about The Empire Strikes Back, and introduced Ewoks into Return of the Jedi.
Lucas and Speilberg created the modern blockbuster and, in doing so, a generation of fans. Critics were harsh when the original films were released too, but the fans and the box office receipts shouted them down.
Somewhere along the way Lucas stopped listening/caring about creating films/art for audiences. More so than Speilberg, Lucas has lost touch with storytelling, adventure, youthfulness and the mystery that a simple backyard can hold for a child's imagination, let alone an entire galaxy.
Both directors have chosen to pander to their audience, forgetting that children aren't stupid and "softening" and/or neutering your heroes (e.g. Han not shooting first) is a good way to destroy their appeal.
It's why people like John McLane or Indiana Jones. Yes, they're the good guys, but they're intelligent enough to realize that the people they're fighting don't always play fair and in order to survive, they'll need to push the boundaries of "being a nice guy".
The Star Wars universe and even the Indiana Jones universe still have amazing potential, but it's time Lucas step back, acknowledge that 1) he's so disconnected that he doesn't (and never really has) gotten the films or their appeal, 2) that it's time to let someone else play in his sandbox and 3) it's time to follow the ultimatum that Steve Jobs gave Disney when he got on the board - stop milking the franchise. Games are great, movies are great, television series are great, but quantity does not equal quality. Scale it back. Make people hungry for it again. Devote time to genuine storytelling.
Lucas should be working behind the scenes as producer and/or executive producer - identifying new, up-and-coming talent and helping filmmakers reach the success that he's attained.
And in the mean time, return ILM, Skywalker Sound and Lucasarts to the innovators they once were. Let Lucasarts actually make *gasp* inspired games again (ala Grim Fandango, Full Throttle and The Monkey Island series, to name a few).
Lucas' enterprises have the potential to become media juggernauts, but Lucas is so myopic and insular in his approach that he can't see that what made his original films great was the collaborative effort/effect of film making.
Stop being so egotistical and thin-skinned and start surrounding yourself with real people, who will speak truth to you, call you out, and have genuine opinions and aren't just sycophants (e.g. Rick McCallum).
Yes, Lucas it's your name on the story, in the credits and on the buildings, but art is interactive. Art is supposed to be engaged, discussed and debated - popular art even more so. That doesn't mean you have to listen to everything the fans say, but at least show us that you're listening.

It was the illusion of a cool film, but really was a rushed mess, and any coolness comes from a late and unconvincing payoff after two films of treading water.
In other words, it was the only prequel film where things really *happened*. All meaningful plot points were saved up 'til the end.
The most momentous moment of TPM, the 3-way lightsaber duel, was virtually meaningless to the overall plot. (Unless you count the fact that the only interesting Jedi in the entire PT was killed in it.) I can barely remember anything of significance in AOTC. The whole clone/Fett business was silliness of the highest order.
And then in ROTS, everything finally blows up, but in an almost completely unsatisfying way. And little kids, really? A cheap, exploitative shortcut to trigger the emotional reaction to Anakin that the previous film and a half failed to build toward. Even the best battle of the entire PT, Windu v. Palpatine, ended with a whimper, the least convincing death since Boba Fett.
The visionary was gone for these films. In his place was a pile of visual clutter, moved through checklist-style with all the life of a phone-book reading.

I think what Lucas hasn't realized is that the work of art will NEVER come out exactly as you imagine. Even he, with his fortune and technology, will never make the film in his head. The great artists know this and always move on to the next work. They know that the point is to learn and keep exploring, that getting any one piece of art "perfect" is a Quixotic illusion.
He also misses the value of limits on the quality of art. He hates the studios with a passion, but everyone knows that the best two Star Wars films - the only two that really stand up as Great films - were the products of desperate resourcefulness working against limitations. Once he was free of limits, the art suffered.
From van Gogh to Letterman, the art has always been best when there's struggle involved, and it's usually not a happy, contented place that produces it. Every artist thinks, "if only I was liberated from all these limits, my true genius would come out." But it doesn't work that way. It's tragic, but it doesn't.
I think it's safe to say that Lucas, taking in his career as a whole, is a certified genius and visionary. He's utterly redefined almost every rule of filmmaking and has created some of the best and most meaningful stories I've ever experienced in my life. I'll be forever grateful for the gift of mind- and imagination-expansion he gave me.
I just wish he had put all the energy that has gone into tinkering with perfectly good completed films into making new ones. His show at the museum has only one painting, and every time you come to look at it, something you appreciated about it before has been painted over.

This mindless fat fuck should have retired long ago,but he's too money hungry,that's a jew for you.When this prick dies,I certainly won't miss him.When is this jew going to release the actual high definition versions of the 6 Star Wars movies,the versions that are out now look like shit,the original DVD's look better.Do we really need to now see them in 3D,what an absolute waste of money and time.

He should never have fucked with Han shooting first....he pussified it.
He should never have tried to make it about the kids but he thought he could make more money that way.
He should never have directed ROTJ. Empire kicked it's ass.
Fuck off the Ewoks, Fuck off the Gungans and the pussified Roger Roger gay ass robots.
Hell the guys that made KOTOR got the world of Star Wars right, they nailed it without pussifying it.
When I saw Ep 2, and George had told us that fans were really going to like the romance between Anakin and Padme, the audience were cringing and laughing at how ridiculous it was.
AND Darth Vader friggen Frankenstein walking with the girly "Nooooooo"
Fuck you George Forever.
Stay away from Under World and let some who actualy likes the franchise work on it.
Get the writers from KOTOR 1 or 2 anyone else would be better.
Fuck me he destroyed something cool with his greed and his ego.

Wow. I read that and had to sit back a few minutes. yeah you can make your own movies, but if your writing is shit in a spam can and you produce said shit in a spam can, dont get pist off cause we told you that your films are nothing but shit in a spam can and that we deserve better. You George have mooched plenty of money off us, grow a fucking back bone or actually LISTEN to the people and why we think your prequels are hacktastic.

Forgot possibly the gayest moment in the Star Wars series that I will always hate George for.
The Force Push contest between Anakin and Obiwan.
The constipated strain, grimacing gayness.
Those few seconds were laughable.
Like two Mimes have a Mime off.
Seriously George is like Michael Jackson, no one around him dared tell him, C'mon George that's just gay.
I think if George ever makes another Star Wars film they'll have to call it.
Star Wars- Constipated strain, Grimacing Gayness.

because they still have to go to him to get decent FXs and sound done. It kills them. Didn't Spike Lee go around Hollywood bad mouthing this project because a White Man was doing the film. I'm sure Spike has some cash sitting around that he could of made his own little CGI LucasFilm set-up and do the movie himself but Spike didn't get Studio money to do this story and Lucas struck out too. There have been a few TV movies and I guess ratings showed the studios the public interest was not there for this story. Lucas should of teamed up with Tyler Perry's studio as a co-production on Red Tails because Perry has a fan base that gets butts in the seats on opening weekend. His humor would work on the ground at the airbase. Picture him spitting in the racist general food while pretending to be a cook. Does the movie need a scene like that? No but Perry would make it work and a Black audience would enjoy it.Having a funny guy in the squad fits with the old WW2 mold and Perry reminds me of Lucas as someone who beat the Studios at this game.

Jan. 19, 2012, 2:49 a.m. CST

by Relugus

If Lucas believes in film as a visual medium, then why is there so much ponderous exposition in the prequels?
Characters explain the plot, as Plinkett pointed out, "sitting in a room talking, standing in a room, talking, etc", and the A camera/B camera filming (in contrast to the CG set-pieces, which Lucas is clearly much more interested in).
One thing that sums up Lucas is the way, in the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, he added a ludicrous expository sequence showing Vader leaving Bespin and going to his Super Star Destroyer. I can imagine George, sitting there, watching ESB, stroking his non-neck, and saying to himself, "oh, Irvin made a mistake, I'd better show how Vader got onto the Star Destroyer."
He treats the audience like morons,
Interestingly, Lucas claimed that making entire films blue/green screen would become the norm. In fact, the reverse has happened; directors have rejected this approach, and many, such as Christopher Nolan, favour practical effects.
But Spielberg, in choosing Michael Bay to direct Transformers, showed a similar contempt for storytelling. It showed a lowest-common denominator attitude; "robots? let's just show them blowing shit up and hitting each other"
Fact is, Lucas and Spielberg had a golden opportunity to challenge the traditional Hollywood hegemony, by backing original films and new talent. Instead, they both decided to churn out the same s*** as the Hollywood studios.
They chickened out and went with the establishment, largely because they were more interested in money than creativity.
Here's an idea for a cool T-shirt:
GEORGE LUCAS DIDN'T RAPE MY CHILDHOOD (front)
MICHAEL BAY DID (back)

If Lucas believes in film as a visual medium, then why is there so much ponderous exposition in the prequels?
Characters explain the plot, as Plinkett pointed out, "sitting in a room talking, standing in a room, talking, etc", and the A camera/B camera filming (in contrast to the CG set-pieces, which Lucas is clearly much more interested in).
One thing that sums up Lucas is the way, in the Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, he added a ludicrous expository sequence showing Vader leaving Bespin and going to his Super Star Destroyer. I can imagine George, sitting there, watching ESB, stroking his non-neck, and saying to himself, "oh, Irvin made a mistake, I'd better show how Vader got onto the Star Destroyer."
He treats the audience like morons, having his characters spell out everything that happens
The creative process involves weeding out bad ideas and tidying up plot threads, cutting out filler, etc. The prequels feel like first drafts.
Interestingly, Lucas claimed that making entire films blue/green screen would become the norm. In fact, the reverse has happened; directors have rejected this approach, and many, such as Christopher Nolan, favour practical effects.
But Spielberg, in choosing Michael Bay to direct Transformers, showed a similar contempt for storytelling. It showed a lowest-common denominator attitude; "robots? let's just show them blowing shit up and hitting each other"
Fact is, Lucas and Spielberg had a golden opportunity to challenge the traditional Hollywood hegemony, by backing original films and new talent. Instead, they both decided to churn out the same s*** as the Hollywood studios.
They chickened out and went with the establishment, largely because they were more interested in money than creativity.

Apart from the 'Padme' scream..yikes...i thought Christenson was great in Attack of the Clones, but for Revenge of the Sith he was abit hit and miss.
Have always thought in Revenge of the Sith Anakin/Vader needed to be abit more personal as a character, not needing so much Republic politics which while there, should have been more paranoia about love triangle and general dis-illusionment about everything becoming hateful!
Like the Vader in ROTJ was.

Taking off my internet asshole hat here to discuss this as a human...
If you wanted the story to end with ANH, I can understand that. But to be DISAPPOINTED with ESB? And as a 12 year old to boot? THAT I can't understand.
To me, ESB is everything a movie should be. It answered, but left questions. It was epic and yet intimate. It was thrilling, tender, exciting and, for a child, wondrous. It also had perfect art direction, music and a PERFECT ending.
I think Lucas captured lightning in a bottle, and despite any talent he has/had, I think Star Wars was the greatest accident that has ever taken place. Everything worked perfectly for the first two movies, in spite of everything that was trying to work against them (think JAWS and Bruce).
I'm not saying Lucas isn't talented, or saying he wasn't responsible for Star Wars as a whole, just that the stars were aligned for him, and the trade winds, and the right people were in the right places at the right time. Had he been in total control of the fates back then, as he was for the Prequels, I think ANH and ESB would have been completely different, and wholly lesser, films.
And as for individual stories? Nope. That would have been a waste. The "soap opera" direction was perfect, especially considering the characters involved and the scope of the backstory.
Indy worked as individual stories because his character was a treasure hunter at the core and that element alone meant you could have one-off stories as often as you'd like.

Is NOT just criticism dude, that's tolerable for him... is death wishes, name calling, trash talking him and his family, I mean, have you read most of the posts JUST in this board?
CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is one thing, but what he really gets is bile, hate, ungreatfullness and whining bitches screaming how he "Raped their childohood"
Ugh...

Because many in the armed forces resisted having Black Americans in a combat role...they made the acceptance requirements for the Tuskegee Airmen extraordinarily high. They either had to have what amounted to years of flight time, or a college degree. The result was that it was mostly composed of very well educated and well traveled men.

Because well written diatribes about the prequels are some of my favorite things to read and I wasn't disappointed.
I notice there are posts filled with reasons how they suck, and even backstory about why they suck. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
Meanwhile the prequel defenders' posts take one of three forms:
1. You are a cock and live in your Mom's basement. Also, nyah nyah nyah.
2. My kids loved 'em, so they're good!
3. Lucas is a God, so the movies are good by definition since everything God makes is good.
This argument is long over. Hear this:
The prequels suck.
Everything Lucas did to change the original trilogy that moves them in the direction of the style of the prequels sucks.
The exact same brand of suckage clearly started in RotJ. It's like a form of mold that gradually spread over the rest of the properties.
If you like that mold you are part of the problem and should be quarantined from having any economic contact with the film industry no matter how small.

Sorry, but what you're saying about THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is stupid. Of the many things that influenced STAR WARS, the chapterplay/serials is the most important. They would end on a cliffhanger and you wouldn't know what was going to happen until the next installment. It's in the DNA of STAR WARS. It would have been strange to NOT have a cliffhanger in the Original Trilogy. In fact, we really couldn't call it a Trilogy if they were just separate self-contained films. People always mistakingly call a film series with 3 installments a "trilogy", but it isn't unless it's one large story told with three films. INDIANA JONES films? That wasn't a trilogy. Christopher Nolan's BATMAN films? Yes. ALIEN movies? No. THE LORD OF THE RINGS? Yes. You get the idea. It would be impossible to make them as individualistic as you seem to want anyway. What is the story of the Original STAR WARS Trilogy?
A galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance.
That's the story of STAR WARS in one sentence, and each film needs to be moving towards the resolution of that war. And I don't think you're seeing that each film actually is a self-contained narrative, but ALSO a piece of the larger story:
STAR WARS: The Rebel Alliance wants to destroy the Empire's new battle station. They succeed. Film begins with escaping with the stolen Death Star plans, film ends with destruction of the Death Star.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK: Darth Vader wants to find Luke Skywalker and convert him to the dark side of the force. He fails. Film begins with Vader's probes being sent around the galaxy to find Luke, film ends with Vader's unsuccessful attempt to convert Luke.
RETURN OF THE JEDI: The Rebel Alliance want's to destroy Emperor Palpatine and end the war. They succeed. Narrative begins with scene telling us the Emperor will be arriving at the new Death Star, narrative ends with the death of The Emperor.

You write this huge post about how the prequels were not even needed and people should just deal with it not realizing the basic fact that Lucas is HATED because:
…He is intent on eliminating the original classic versions if the OT. And he was NOT the sole creator of those movies- indeed he didn’t even DIRECT 2 of them)
If you don’t get that you’re a dimwit. No one gives a CRAP that he made new movies or even 20 new editions of the OT..
Also the Prequels wee NOT targeted at the same audience as the OT.